Poison in Her Veins, Love in Her Heart
by Omega6047
Summary: The end of the revolution was never meant to bring Akame peace. But she didn't mind. She couldn't even remember times when she felt truly alive so it made no difference to her. But there is one person that won't allow her story to end like this. Someone willing to defy death itself and drag them both out of its grasp, just to make her life mean something. Just so he can love her.
1. Prologue

It's a truly stupid thing to promise someone you won't die. That you will survive.

After all, everyone dies. Sooner or later, death will call everyone's name and no matter how determined you are to live, how hard you try to be ready to face death, you can never be ready enough.

Everyone knows this.

Sheele did.

Blaut did.

Chelsea did.

Susanoo did.

Lubbock did.

Mine did.

Tatsumi knew as well.

But for some reason, he did it anyways. He knew he shouldn't. He knew he has no right to, that no matter how much he will train, he cannot truly make sure he keeps that promise. And he did it anyways. Because when he looked at Akame's tear covered face he believed that if he does that he can relief some of her pain. Make her dark excuse of a life just a bit brighter.

He was stupid.

Because now, as he looked at her, he knew he never should have done that. She was crying again. Crying over his broken body.

He wanted to reach his hand out and wash those tears away, but he couldn't. His arms were shattered. Bones broken beyond repair.

He wanted to get up to show her he's fine, but he couldn't. His legs were gone. They fell apart as he slowed down the fall of Supreme teigu.

He wanted to tell her it's going to be alright, but he couldn't. All that left his mouth was blood. Adding to the pool that has formed under him.

He wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn't. He didn't want to see her like that, crying her eyes out because of him.

He wanted to stop listening, but he couldn't. He didn't want to hear her cries any more, the hopeless screams, the prayers to any gods she could think of or her broken voice reminding him that he promised. And that he failed.

He wanted to stop feeling, but he couldn't. He didn't want to feel her clawing at his body, trying to reignite his life's burned out flame with anything she could.

He wanted to wake up from this horrible dream, but he couldn't. This was no dream.

But he couldn't leave this world. Not yet.

Even though he was dead, even though his body was broken in more ways than he could count, there was one thing that wouldn't allow him to leave. One thing that will force him to look at Akame's face, hear her cries and feel her hands. One being that would not accept an end like this. One creature that could force him to do what he promised.

 ** _Survive._**


	2. Love and Poison

Tatsumi didn't know how much time it was since he heard Incursio's... no, Tyrant's command, it's call to survive. All he knew is that he could no longer see Akame. He heard her though. Her and Esdeath. Fighting.

She would die. He was sure of this. Or at least, Tyrant was.

But there was nothing for him to do. Even if Tyrant could force his dead body to stay aware, it couldn't force it to live again, even if the beast itself still lived within the armor. That didn't matter though. Tyrant had only one goal for it's existence, and it was survival. It would not allow itself to be destroyed like this. It would find a way to save at least a part of itself as it did when its flesh became Incursio. And if reigniting that boy's flame of life with its own is what it took, Tyrant would gladly oblige; if his body was too broken, it would use what was left of its own to recreate it.

The broken remnants of the Demon Armor started to shine with a dim light. Too weak for either of the two women fighting each other to notice in the middle of their heated duel.

Then, Tatsumi felt it. For the first time since his death he actually felt something on his own. And it was pain. The armor started to fill his wounds as it disappeared off his body. Slowly his entire body was screaming in pain, even if he was still too weak and broken to show it.

 _ **Survive.**_

The command rang through his head again as he took a breath again. His body was still engulfed in pain he could have never possibly imagine before now, but he had to know. He had to see the fight that played out beside him. _Akame..._ He repeated the name in his head as his legs started to grow anew, though in truth, it felt as if they were being dipped in melted iron. _I will..._ His head fell to the side, where the battle was taking place.

Battle that has pushed both fighters to their limits. Akame was Night Raid's strongest fighter by far but Esdeath was still just a bit faster, just a bit stronger then her. Empire's strongest was winning and there was nothing Akame could do to change that. Or at least, so Tatsumi thought.

Fear started to pour into his motionless body as he watched her place her sword against the palm of her hand, only to cut herself with it. It never left him, even after he saw she was still alive, and furthermore, faster then she was before. There was something on the back of his head, screaming that he should have stopped her, that this will leave her more scarred then she's ever been and worse.

But there was nothing he could do. His body was still twisting and turning inside and out, molding itself back together with Incursio being absorbed into him. His legs grew back, but he still couldn't use them.

But then, it suddenly clicked in his head. As Tyrant molded itself into the boy's body, it also molded their minds, their memories. All to make sure it stays alive, one way or another.

Tatsumi remembered. He remembered every great hunt Tyrant went on. He remembered every prey it killed, every land it visited. He also remembered how it died.

He remembered thousands upon thousands of soldiers charging at it in the middle of the desert. There were Teigu users among them. Some Teigus Tatsumi knew, others not. And he would never see those again, more then 10 freshly made Imperial Arms were destroyed in that battle along with their users.

In the end, there was only one man standing out of the thousands that came to kill the great beast. The one wielding Murasame.

Now, Tatsumi understood why he felt this strange fear. Murasame's first owner did the same thing Akame did to defeat Tyrant. And even as it was forged into a Teigu, Tyrant could still hear that man's dying screams. The sort of screams Tatsumi didn't know a human could even make. The man was begging to die for days as doctors were desperately trying to save him. In the end he granted his own wish when someone forgot to strap him to the table.

Akame wouldn't die in this fight. She will die afterwards. _No... Akame..._ He didn't want this. He didn't want to hear her scream like that. He didn't want to live in a world with one comrade less. Especially this one. The girl who right now was probably the closest and most dear to him.

They were going to survive this together. That's what they promised. _If I can make it through... So will you!_ His arms twitched. He was trying to reach out to her but they wouldn't budge an inch. Instead his ripped muscles just screamed in pain, still not ready to be used again. He tried the same with his legs, only to get the same result. All left for him to do was watch.

Almost immediately after Akame has cut herself with her sword, she dropped on her knee, her body twisting in pain as she screamed. Even Esdeath was taken aback by what Akame just did, but not because she thought her opponent just threw a fight. She knew the fight was just getting started. Black tendrils started to spread on Akame's pale skin and her screams became... distorted. As if something else was screaming beside her.

The black marks that by now have reached her face suddenly started to turn into violet smoke that has formed a cloud around her. The screams have stopped as Akame's body became nearly motionless. In place of the black tendrils appeared red markings as she slowly stood back up, showing her blackened eyes to her opponent.

Everything played out just as it did when Tyrant faced Murasame's user.

"I've killed countless people..." Akame started. She wasn't talking to Esdeath though, mostly to herself. The general was barely even listening to her, too absorbed in the excitement at the fight she knew was coming. "Their sorrow, sadness, anger, hatred... Murasame remembers it all..." She pointed the tip of her blade at the foe in front of her. "It remembers every life I've taken..." Both combatants got into their fighting stances, ready to jump at one another at a moment's notice. "And I accept responsibility for all of them!"

 _No... Please don't...You don't... Understand..._ Tatsumi tried to call out. All his attempts ended in more pain though. She didn't know. She _couldn't_ know, what was in store for her. Murasame had a remarkably small number of masters for a Teigu, most of whom died the same way the first one of them did. You can only use Murasame's Trump Card once. And it will kill you. No one who's used it ever survived more then a week afterwords, dying an agonizingly slow death filled with suffering beyond their imagining.

The strength of its Trump Card differs between users though, as does the length of agony it inflicts on them. Both are tied to the same variable. How many they've killed. And Akame killed a lot of people. More then any of Murasame's users that Tyrant remembered. The moment she accepted the 'responsibility' for that, she sealed her fate.

Tatsumi couldn't help but let out a tear at that.

He was no longer worried about the result of the fight. Akame was now moving with speeds that have baffled even Esdeath, and he knew she can still move even faster. Tyrant saw others that did. What worried him was what he will do once he can move. After Akame defeats Esdeath everything will start. The first wave of pain will wash over her, marking the beginning of her end. And what could Tatsumi possibly do to stop it? Kill her himself before the pain even starts for good?

As the boy lied there, struggling to find answer he felt another surge of Tyrant's memories flooding his mind. Memories of how the beast improved itself, how it evolved. Each great hunt would teach it something new, something that would allow it to hunt for even stronger pray in more hostile lands. Memories of Tyrant's beginning. Even the great beast like that was once a small pitiful weakling that needed to grow and to learn. Just like Tstsumi.

There were also memories of... failure. Failure to defeat one enemy destiny has laid before the evolving Danger Beast. Enemy that Tyrant aimed to overcome before it was slain. Enemy that held the solution to Tatsumi's problem.

The memories stopped clouding the boy's mind, drawing a sharp, yet quiet breath from him. He felt his fingers close around a rock. For the first time his body was starting to move, but that's not what was occupying his mind at the moment. _I can..._ _Save her..._ A smile appeared on his blood covered face. Focusing back at the fight, he saw sparks filling the air as the two women's swords clashed with one another. Esdeath has lost her arm by now, and was slowly beginning to crumble under Akame's relentless assault.

Walls and pillars of ice were thrown at the assassin, but they merely slowed her down. Akame had her opponent up against the metaphorical wall, but that was not enough to defeat the empire's strongest and they both knew it.

Tatsumi started to notice something though. Akame's movements, which up until now were barely more then a blur to him, started to become clearer. Not because she was getting slower though, if anything she was now even faster then she already was. Tatsumi quickly realized that Tyrant's sharp senses were being moved to him. A quick look at a nearby piece of ice revealed to him that much. His green eyes were gone, replaced with red ones that rivaled Akame's in intensity. Their another, even more prominent feature were cross-shaped slits on them. He could see more then he ever had. Details that would escape him before were now as easy to spot as the excitement on Esdeath's face.

He had no time to ponder on that though. Akame was about to finish the fight. He could feel that.

Yet again, he tried to move his hand, and this time, it did as he commanded. The pain was almost unbearable to him, but it meant nothing. Akame was going to go through much worse if he did nothing. Slowly, he moved his hand in front of him, hoping to pull himself closer to the battle. He halted after seeing his arm though.

It was changed. His skin, which now became thick and almost reptilian with silver color not unlike that of Incursio, was covered in scales that run from his elbow to the tips of his fingers, where he also could see three inch long claws. Up from his elbow everything seemed as it was before, but he could feel something was wrong with the rest of his body as well. His teeth felt sharper then they were before and he felt some strange muscle around his backside he's never felt before. The inside of his body has also changed. His heart, lungs, stomach... All of those and more they were all different. Better. Stronger.

There was no time for him to dwell on that though. Akame was getting ready for the final attack.

Just as Tatsumi dug his clawed fingers into the ground and pulled himself forward, Akame charged straight at Esdeath, now using the power granted to her by Murasame to it's fullest. Understanding this and her own state, Esdeath could tell she had no hope of stopping her if they were to clash swords, so she decided to throw her rapier at the incoming assassin to force her to dodge and as a result, stop her charge. Akame did as Esdeath wanted her to, but it meant nothing. In a blink of an eye she charged at Esdeath again, this time met with a shield of ice. It shattered under Akame's strength, but opened her up for a counter from Esdeath, who attempted to kick her with all her strength.

All she kicked was the air though.

Akame was already behind her, prepared to close in and strike. Another hastily prepared ice shield stopped her, but by the time Esdeath could turn to face her, Akame was already gone and prepared to strike from another angle. Just barely dodging, Esdeath tried freezing Akame, or at least slow her down a bit. She failed in both regards. Akame was already at her side, approaching with intent to kill.

The last ice shield started to form between them in Esdeath's desperate attempt at stopping her, but before she could reinforce it, Akame smashed it to pieces and charged on. Her blade was mere centimeters from the general's throat when she saw a smirk on her lips. "Makahadoma!" A shout signaling the halt in time came out of her mouth.

Tatsumi had no way of knowing what happened from Esdeath's perspective, but he knew that Akame was not where Esdeath saw her. Just a moment before time was frozen, Akame jumped into the air with the final burst of speed so great that even with his newfound eyesight Tatsumi could barely notice it happen. And on top of that, Esdeath's blood lust was blinding her. Tatsumi sensed it, and so did Akame. She wanted to see Akame there, hopelessly frozen in air, and that will be her downfall.

And just as Tatsumi thought, right after shouting the name of her secret move, he saw the smirk disappeared off Esdeath's face, replaced with panic. In the last moment she realized that the threat was coming at her from above, but it was far too late for her to do anything about it. Akame slashed her chest, ending the fight. "How?" The defeated general asked after a short moment of silence, just as Murasame's poison started to spread throughout her body. "How did you counter Makahadoma?"

"That move took Susanoo's life. I was waiting for you to use it." Akame lowered her blade. Even though Esdeath could hold out far longer then anyone, the poison has already reached her heart, and now, with all her strength depleted by the fight, she had only her willpower keeping her alive.

"So it was all a part of your plan..." Tatsumi continued to slowly close in on them. The pain was beginning to leave him, but he still couldn't get up.

"The afterimage you saw was formed by your lust for blood." Akame said, coldly staring at Esdeath. Her eyes still blackened by poison. "I cut through your inflated ideal of hunting." While the black marks on Esdeath's body started to spread further, no doubt causing excruciating pain, the ones on Akame slowly faded away, leaving her only with faded red marks on her skin. "Mission accomplished." Just as she said that she fall on her knees, coughing out blood. Pain started to radiate from the marks on her body, but Tatsumi knew this wasn't it yet. This was but a taste. A mere glimpse of what's to come.

Akame's pained panting was interrupted by Esdeath, who somehow was still standing "You're an interesting one..." Seeing her opponent still standing brought Akame to ignore the pain she was experiencing. She stood up, ready to continue fighting if need be. But Tatsumi knew there would not be any more fighting between them. In the end, Murasame will uphold it's reputation as a One-Cut Killer blade. "Tell me... where does such strength derive from?"

She was quiet for a moment, still gathering herself back up. "All the lives for which I am responsible... They are what gave me strength..." Tatsumi noticed her shaking. The pain is getting to her.

There was a strange sense of calm coming from Esdeath. You could almost swear the poison had no effect on her. "You plan to continue being dragged down by others' souls?"

"That's right." Those two words made Tatsumi pause in his slow approach. The realization of what Akame thought of herself this whole time almost made him tear up. A tool. Somewhere deep down that's what she though she was. A mere tool meant to take all the responsibility so that nobody she holds dear has to. A tool meant to be cast away when it's no longer of any use.

 _Akame... please..._ "You're... More then that..." His words were weak, too quiet to be heard, but she felt them. He was sure of that. And he hoped that one day, he can make her believe those words herself.

"Huh... I don't get it at all." Esdeath continued. "But loss is still loss..." She suddenly started to wriggle in pain. She was reaching the limit of how much she can resist. Tatsumi saw her look in his direction, but it didn't seem she was aware that he was still alive. Taking a closer look he noticed her eyes have become foggy. She could barely see as she started to approach him with slow, shaky steps.

Akame looked at the fallen general in confusion. But then her eyes fell down on Tatsumi. Their eyes met and in an instant she completely forgot about the pain she was in. Her eyes started to water as she saw him smile weakly at her. "Tatsumi!" She immediately rushed towards him, only to see a wall of ice form itself in front of her. Tatsumi heard her call his name again as she started started to hit the wall. First with her fists, then with her sword. He had no time to focus on that though. Esdeath was approaching him and he knew what she was hoping to do.

He wouldn't let her.

"Tatsumi..." Esdeath called out to him, only a couple of steps away from him. She was about to lower herself to him and hold in her arms, but she stopped when she finally realized. The man she loved was not dead.

Akame has stopped her attempts at breaking the ice wall, and seeing no way to get over it, she was forced to see the events unfold before her. She saw as Tatsumi pushes himself up in front of stunned Esdeath. He was barely standing, and every second was clearly bringing him pain. She was too focused on the fact that he is alive to notice the changes made to his body.

"Tatsumi... You're alive..." Happiness started to fill Esdeath's face as she felt a powerful urge to keep living. To the boy's shock, he saw the poison lose against her will.

He frowned grimly as she reached her hand to his cheek. _That women... Even after all of this... she still blindly loves me..._ He would normally be flattered by such a beautiful women falling in love with him but with her? The sadist who tortured and murdered... How many? Thousands? Millions? And all of that only because she _enjoyed_ it? No, with her he could only be repulsed. Downright discussed by the thought of ever allowing that monster to touch him again.

He wouldn't let her.

Just a moment before her hand touched his cheek, Tatsumi suddenly shoved his clawed hand forward, right into her chest.

Her eyes snapped wide open as air left her lungs along with blood. Looking down at Tatsumi, she felt tears roll down her cheeks. He was looking straight into into her eyes, letting his hate and disgust for her to pour out. This was not how she wanted to die. She didn't want to die with that look on his face as the last thing she saw. She tried to reach her other hand to his face, begging for him to show her that smile she loved so much for the last time.

He wouldn't let her.

She no longer had the right to see it. She never had. His other hand shot forward, this time aiming for her head. The claws pierced her skull just as easily as they've pierced her chest. Tatsumi gritted his teeth seeing her eyes continue to twitch. She was still fighting it...

With one last move he tore her head off and threw it on the ground. Her headless body fell on the ground as he stomped on the general's head, smashing it into pieces. But those pieces were too big for his liking. Especially one that still had her eye attached to it. And he could almost swear she was somehow still looking at him.

He wouldn't let her.

With a primal roar, he stomped on the piece of her head, turning it into a mush of blood and brain matter.

He was panting hard after all that. His body was not entirely ready to move yet after all. But that was not time for him to lie down yet. There was still one thing he needed to smash into pieces. Turning towards the wall between him and Akame he started to move forward, panting painfully with each step. He could hear his muscles rip under him, but he didn't care. He needed to do this. He needed to give her as much comfort as he could before she feels the real pain of Murasame's curse.

She was looking at him with her mouth slightly open and tears rolling down her cheeks. Her hands were pressing against the ice wall as he weakly placed his own against it. He smiled at her for a second before pulling his arms back and smashing them against the ice.

The movement was so fast and strong it washed Esdeath's blood off his hands as they touched the wall. It immediately shattered into pieces, leaving no barrier between him and Akame, as well as no strength in his body to keep him standing. He started to fall to the ground, powerless to stop the ground from approaching. "Tatsumi!" Akame screamed his name again. She rushed towards him the moment he brought the wall down, and ignoring pain in her own body caught his own before it went all the way down.

He felt her gently place him on her knees as she grabbed his face between her hands. She has noticed the changes to his body, but she found it hard to care right now. All she needed is one look into his changed eyes to know that there was still Tatsumi behind them, however changed his body might be. "Tatsumi... You're alive..." Tears started to stream down his face again. "You're... really alive..." She started to choke on her own sobs.

Slowly, Tatsumi reached his hand to her cheek, wiping it clean of tears and leaving it there. "Don't cry Akame... I'm... here..." He quickly felt more tears running over his fingers. Tatsumi smiled, trying to bring out as much happiness he was feeling out with it. "I... _We_ promised to survive this war together... And I'm not going anywhere... So... You stay with me too... Alright?" She calmed down a little bit, now smiling brightly and caressing Tatsumi's cheeks. She didn't answer his question, instead pulling him into a gentle hug.

She buried her face into his neck, not caring that it was covered in his dried up blood. Her hand was running through his hair when she felt him place his own hand on her back. He simply left it there, unable to force his body to do more. To Tatsumi, Akame was... Downright intoxicating. He still remembered his thoughts from when all the way back when he saw her. 'At least I'll be killed by a pretty lady'. At the time he's told himself that it was just him looking for something good in a bad situation, but by now he knew well enough there was more to that. No matter how attractive Leone was, how cute Sheele acted, how pretty Cheelesa looked or how... _Mine_ , Mine was, Akame is yet to fail in drawing his full attention to her. All of his senses would go into overdrive to feel more of her every time she was close to him. They begged him to look at her, to smell, and feel her, to listen to her voice and take in her presence. And now with all those senses sharpened beyond what is humanly possible, his whole body was begging for more with each second of their contact.

It wasn't long before Akame lifted her head off his shoulder to Tatsumi's disappointment. She moved her face over to his face, hanging it right above his head, close enough for him to feel her breath leave her slightly trembling lips. She was looking straight into his eyes, making him look into hers.

He immediately saw it. He would even without his improved eyesight.

She loved him. And she was showing it through her eyes, bombarding him with her feelings.

He has been suspecting that this is what she feels for some time now but actually seeing her feeling laid bare in front of him? This was overwhelming. He has only seen it once, when he held dying Mine in his arms.

"Tatsumi... I know that you don't feel the same... I know that no one would feel like that about somebody like me, but... Please... Let me have this, just for a moment..." She didn't remain immobile for long, slowly lowering her head onto his, eventually pressing their lips together. Her eyes closed as she started to kiss him, softly brushing her lips against his.

Tatsumi felt her arms wrap around him slightly tighter then before and it would be a lie to say he didn't enjoy this kiss. It was downright heavenly for him. He quickly realized how much he wanted this, and for how long. Probably not as long as she did, after all he could trace her affection for him growing all the way back to the aftermath of Sheele's death, when they have promised one another to survive the war together.

The kiss made something grow in Tatsumi's heart, or rather, it released what's been already growing in there for a long time.

Few seconds into the kiss, Tatsumi started to close his eyes as well. His hand, still placed on Akame's back, moved up to the back of her head and lightly pressed it down as he returned the kiss. A quiet gasp sounded from her mouth as her eyes opened slightly in surprise along with her mouth. An opportunity to deepen the kiss that Tatsumi gladly took. For a moment she could see his eyes as he was closing them. And she saw what he saw in hers. Love.

She was nearly certain that it was just her wishful thinking - her desires playing her for a fool like Esdeath's did during their fight moments before - but she didn't care about that. In this one moment she would let herself believe it was true. That he really loved her. Even though she knew it was impossible. There was no place for her in his heart. In anyone's heart.

Or at least so she believed. Because despite what she thought, what she saw was true. Tatsumi loved her. Or at the very least was starting to realize what he felt towards her. She had worked her way into his heart, whether she was able to accept that as a fact or not.

Tatsumi managed to lift himself into a sitting position as their kiss deepened even more. His other arm was now holding her waist in a gentle embrace. She lightly moaned into the kiss as she felt that. For the first time in her life she has allowed herself to be loved and it felt downright glorious. Far better then what she could ever dream off. Even if she herself thought of the moment as nothing more then a dream. A realistic one, but still a dream brought by her deepest desires. The same ones she has convinced herself she wasn't allowed to fulfill.

And just like any other dream, this one had to end as well.

Her eyes suddenly snapped open. She just felt her whole body flare up in unimaginable pain. It was as if someone had injected molten rock into her veins until they were close to bursting open from overfilling. As if someone had covered her in honey and threw into a giant ant hill to be eaten alive. As if all her bones were turned into dust in an instant. As if she was being skinned alive and swimming in boiling oil. As if thousands upon thousands of small cuts were make all over her body. As if all of her teeth were ripped out one by one.

As if all of that was happening to her at once. Over and over again.

She immediately lost control over her body, trashing violently and screaming louder then she though is humanly possible as Tatsumi tightened his grip on her. Without any warning her stomach twisted inside of her and a burst of black mud-like liquid left her mouth. The same substance started to pour out of her eyes, nose, ears and every other hole in her body. It was even in her veins, making them take a dark purple shade, clearly visible on her pale skin.

Tatsumi cried as he saw her like that. There was nothing he could do to ease the pain she was in. He could kill her, and seeing how she looked and hearing her bone-chilling screams, he doubted she would mind. But he wouldn't. All he did was hold her, hoping it would give her at least some comfort. "I promise... I'll make it better Akame... I'll make it all better..."

He kept holding her close until she passed out from the pain. Only then, he allowed the exhaustion to hit him and fell to the ground, with no consciousness left in him to keep his body up.

* * *

Song of the day: Eskimo Callboy - Shallows


	3. Cat and Death

_Damn... This what an embarrassment..._ Leone fell on her knee, puking out blood that has gathered itself in her stomach. One would think having 9 holes in your stomach would take care of it for her.

Her wound was mortal and she was very much aware of it. The damn minister got her good. She really didn't see that one coming, especially from a fat sack of shit such as him. Good thing he wasn't smart enough to shoot her in the head. This might have stopped her from feeling the joy of smashing his ugly face into the floor and splattering his brain all over the floor. Still, she's lost both her Teigu and enough blood to make most people downright drop on the ground, roll over and die.

But she's hardly a normal person.

No, she still had one more thing to do. After all, the mission is not over until she reports back.

A smile appeared on her face as she thought of that stupid rule Akame made up. Stupid but effective. She couldn't even count how many times hearing that phrase in her head brought her back into reality just in time to save her from a lethal strike of an enemy she thought was defeated already. And after all, she can't let anyone think she didn't finish the mission because she hasn't reported back.

Leone grabbed one of the pieces of rubble next to her and pulled herself up. She almost fell after making another step, but only barely caught onto another piece of rubble. Her hand was pressed against her blood covered stomach, as if she was trying to ease the pain. It didn't, but it gave her some strange sense of comfort. _Human mind is a strange thing..._ She felt that the cloth she used to limit the bleeding has already been soaked to the point that it was just a dead weight now so she just dropped it down to the ground.

She continued to slowly push herself forward through the ruined halls of the palace. She could see the light already. It was so close, and yet every step filled her with pain so great it made her question whether she should take another one each time. Her strength was being drained from her body, left behind in a form of a long trail of blood. _God damn it... I won't make it out like this... I have to stop the bleeding somehow..._ It wasn't really a mystery for her as to how she should handle it. She just wasn't very fond of the idea.

Still, it was the only way available for her to stop the bleeding and actually make it out of this place alive.

She stopped and after taking a deep breath reached her hand out towards the wall. She felt a wooden surface of a torch in her palm and pulled it down on the ground. It was hard to keep it in her hands for too long. She did the same with a shield that was attached to the wall as a decoration. It was a bit harder, but with some effort and a bit more pain she's managed to rip it out and allowed it to fall right on top of the torch.

With another deep breath she attempted to calm herself before what is to come. While the metal was heating up she fell on her knees beside the fire. The carpet in the hallway started to catch fire. _Guess throwing the torch on it wasn't the best idea... I've gotta hurry up with that... Or that palace will become my grave and I fucking refuse to be buried in the same one as that shit-head of a minister..._ The upside -or downside, depending on how you look at it- of the burning carpet was that it made the shield heat up faster.

Once she was sure it was hot enough, Leone grabbed it, hissing in pain as her hands burned on contact. She knew it's about to her worse though, she she just swallowed it and with no hesitation pressed the red hot metal to her bleeding stomach.

The pain was horrible. Her mouth opened slightly, trying to let out a scream but it was immediately stopped when Leone clenched her teeth. She will NOT scream because of a wound that slime ball gave her. And she will NOT cry, as much as she wants to right now. This would be the ultimate humiliation for her. Knowing she will die because of him is enough as it is. But screaming and crying like a baby because of it? That's off limits. At least until she's back with the others. Then she will cry. Maybe.

The fact that she didn't even know if any of them are alive filled her with worry. For all she knew, she might be the last living member of Night Raid.

The thought echoed in her head as her skin burned under the touch of hot steel. Even if she makes it back on the surface, will she still have anyone to report back to? Nejada can drop dead at any moment after she used up Susanoo's Trump Card. Who's to say her life force hasn't depleted in the middle of battle? And Akame? Tatsumi? The last time she saw the two of them they had the emperor and his Teigu out to get them. Not a favorable mach up if she's ever seen one.

They can all be dead, and all her efforts to come back to them for one last goodbye are for nothing.

 _Damn, if that's true I'm definitely gonna cry..._ The shield dropped to the floor again as her hands stopped supporting it. They couldn't anymore. She looked at them, seeing the terrible burns that now covered them. _Shame I don't wear gloves._ She laughed at her thoughts. Those burns were nothing compared to what was on her stomach though. But there wasn't much time for her to admire her own handiwork. It was getting hot here.

She pushed herself up and seeing the fire has started to, run towards the single ray of light she could still see. The heat was making her already hot body feel even hotter. The oxygen around her was being depleted and she could definitely feel it.

Doing her best to ignore the pain, she jumped straight through the wall of fire that has formed itself in her way. Suddenly the floor under her started to crack, threatening to pull her back down where the minister's body is slowly rotting away. Just before the floor directly under her fell down, she managed to grab onto a ladder that would take her back to the surface. Her hand almost lost it's grip on it as the pain from the burns started to spread.

She ignored it though. She had to.

The thick smoke started to cloud her eyes but she still climbed up as fast as she could. The fire has reached the ladder just as she got to the top of it, slightly burning her legs. She smashed the trapdoor above her into pieces, and started to climb up, all that was left now was using the rubble to get up to the surface.

Adrenaline was rushing through her body as she continued to climb in the tight space. The oxygen that flowed through the destroyed trapdoor became a fuel for the fire underneath her, making it grow further. It reached her legs again, giving her yet another burn to the collection.

She felt nothing though. Adrenaline in her body has pushed her to move faster instead. Her hand has finally reached out into the world above, but she couldn't see the light anymore. The thick black smoke was the only thing she could see. Holding onto the ground above she pulled herself between two pieces of rubble. They started to scratch against her burned stomach, damaging it further and bringing her pain even the adrenaline rush she was in couldn't completely nullify.

Pushing through that, Leone just barely managed to get to the surface, bursting from underneath the earth. She immediately fell to the ground. The rush of adrenaline was over now, and the full extant of her injuries has hit her like a shot of pure ethanol. Despite her best efforts a weak cry of pain escaped her lips. Her hand moved to her stomach, but as soon as she touched she realized it was a mistake. The whole area was covered in huge blisters full of blood and pus. The moment she touched them, her whole stomach flared up in even more pain. _Shit... I don't have time for this crap!_ Clenching her teeth and hissing from pain, she forced herself to stand up, but only managed to get into kneeling position before she had to catch her breath.

She started to look around as her pants became heavy. The area was flat, surrounded by a crumbling ice wall. She could see people encased in the ice. Soldiers, civilians, revolutionaries, imperials, man, women, adults, children... Only Esdeath could do something like that. And that means she is or at least was here.

There was no doubt in Leone's mind that she will not live through an encounter with Esdeath in her state. That and she doubted to live through one even if she was at full strength. Luckily she quickly learned that she won't have to. Esdeath's decapitated body was laying next to her, with her head smashed into pieces a mere meter away. She couldn't help but smile. _We did it..._ The revolution was over. They won. All those sacrifices were not for nothing... _But were they worth it?_ Slowly, her happy smile melted down.

For her it didn't really matter anymore. She was going to be added to the list of those sacrifices soon anyways. Whether it was all worth it in the end or not will be left to the history. Still, the question of whether lives of your friends and your own meant anything is not something she can just get out of her head.

The pain was slowly dropping down to a manageable level. It was still extremely bad, but at least she could get up. She did just that, but not before spotting Akame and Tatsumi a couple meters away from her. Instinctively, the first thing she did was look for sighs of breathing. She quickly saw that both of them are alive, though it appeared they are unconscious. A hint of a smirk appeared on her face as she examined the position they were in. Kneeling on the ground, with their arms and heads limply draped on one another. It looked like they were kissing too. _Soooo~ Akame finally decided to act, huh? Or did Tatsumi finally realize it? Well, either way..._

She didn't finish the thought. There was a couple more details that have escaped her thanks to her own state. Primarily their expressions. Despite the seemingly romantic position she found them in, both had pain written on their unconscious faces and tears streaming down their eyes. Akame also had some strange black mud occasionally pouring out of her.

There were some strange red marks all over her body, and even without Lionel, Leone could feel malice coming off of them. It was like a horrible stench filling the air around her. The occasional twitch from her body told her that even despite being unconscious, she is still very much in serious pain.

Tatsumi on the other hand was... Different. Scales all over his arms and legs, big-ass claws on his hands and... A tail. _Tatsumi grew a fucking tail_ _..._ He looked more like one of Stylish's experiments then a human. If it wasn't for his aura remaining mostly the same, she would start to seriously question if it was really him or not.

But it was him. Even with some extra bits that was still her little brother. Or at least a part of him.

Quickly getting over her surprise at seeing the two of her unofficial younger siblings in a state like that, Leone quickly gathered herself and ignoring her own pain yet again rushed to help. It was immediately obvious to her that she has no way of being any help to them whatsoever. She is more competent with medicine then most, as are... or rather were... all members of Night Raid but her 'expertise' extends only to treating stuff you can find commonly on a battlefield. Cuts, broken bones, lost limbs, stuff like that. Usually without the use of hot iron.

She will need to take them to a professional, preferably that doctor who was given Stylish's Teigu after the sucker was killed. Guy became something of a Teigu expert after that, regularly checking on Revolutionary Army's Teigu users, Night Raid included. Apparently Teigus are something of a passion of his. Some even say he hopes to create a Teigu himself one day, or at least something like one.

She could guess that the problem with both Tatsumi and Akame had something to do with their respective Teigus. The scales on Tatsumi's body reminded her a lot of Incursio for one thing, and the aura Akame's 'tattoos' gave off was very similar to that of Murasame. There was something strange about it though. Normally, Murasame would appear as nothing more then a sword as far as auras, killing intent and all that stuff are concerned until Akame herself would start to emit them. But those marks were constantly oozing with malice and killing intent, but neither focused on anything around. They were focused on Akame herself.

And it wasn't like just any killing intent she felt before. It was like hundreds- no, _thousands_ of voices screaming in anger, calling for revenge on that one girl.

It was more then a little unsettling. Leone felt sick when thoughts of what Akame must be going through right now passed through her head.

She picked Murasame up from the ground and hid it in Akame's sheath just before picking the girl and boy holding her up. She threw them both over her shoulders and started to move towards a huge hole that has formed in one part of the ice wall.

If the weight of the two was bothering her, she didn't show it at all. Her desire to make sure at least these two get to have some form of normal life outweighed that by far. Still, she was severely slowed down by her own wounds, only barely managing to run forward. Sprinting was out of the question. She already felt like her stomach was slowly being ripped apart by her movement.

Once on the edge of the arena Esdeath has formed, Leone jumped down onto the streets. Some people were startled by that, but they quickly went back to what they were doing and ignored her. They had bigger concerns then some girl carrying people on her back. She wasn't the only one anyways. There were more people carrying their wounded loved ones, looking for help. Houses around the area were devastated. Dead bodies were lying everywhere, with those alive searching through them, hoping to not see any familiar faces.

The fall of emperor's Teigu was devastating, as much as Tatsumi tried to stop it. He probably saved thousands of lives anyways, but it was simply impossible to save everyone. And he almost died himself on top of that.

Leone was pretty sure his survival had a lot to do with his new form. Nobody could just survive what Tatsumi did.

She turned in the direction of the closest camp of Revolutionaries inside of the capital. Nejada should be there, and she should know how to get the doctor here. Leone started passing through the back alleys, trying to get there faster and lessen the strain on her body. It would be hard to help them if she drops dead half way there.

With how big the Capital was it's hard for anyone to really learn it's entire layout, if not downright impossible. She did however learn how to navigate around it effectively. Her time in slums helped her with that a lot. All she needed to know is where the camp is and she could get there from any part of the city. Having a skill like that has proven itself useful during her many interactions with law enforcement and now it definitely saved her a whole world of pain caused by exhaustion and her wounded stomach.

She was within eye range of the camp within ten minutes of nonstop running and she honestly couldn't tell for sure how much more she could actually take. Probably not much.

The guards posted at the entrance immediately pointed their rifles at her and pulled out their swords. "Bold!" One of them shouted. They obviously didn't know who she is, and since she had no visual indicators that she is with the revolution, they resorted to checking her with a call sign.

If she didn't know it and wouldn't stop at the sight of having rifles pointed at her they would open fire. "Pigeon!" She shouted back. They lowered their weapons, but still held them ready. They kept their eyes on her until they saw Nejada approach her. "Boss!"

"Leone, what-!?" Her eye widened when she noticed the wound on Leone's stomach. She knew a mortal wound when she saw one. "Leone, you..." Her metallic hand formed a fist.

"Mission completed boss..." Leone said, smiling sadly. "Esdeath and Honest are dead, Emperor incapacitated and his Teigu destroyed. We won." Upon hearing it, the revolutionaries gathered around them started to cheer loudly. Not Nejeda though. She had her eyes locked on Leone's wound. She knew more then well enough that she doesn't have much time left. And she's powerless to do anything about it yet again. "Now, about these two." Leone snapped Nejeda out of it before she started to think too much. "Can you get that Teigu doctor here? As you can see they are not exactly as they were when the mission started."

"And what about you?" That was a stupid question and Nejada knew it. "Not even going to ask for help?" Leone could hear the sorrow and pain in her voice.

"Well, I guess I could use some painkillers. Should keep me awake until they wake up."

* * *

Hours later the doctor has finally arrived. He was in another part of the capital, treating wounded revolutionaries and civilians. The moment he heard about Akame and Tatsumi he rushed out as fast as he could, but it still took him a long while before he finally got to the camp where they were being held.

And his diagnosis?

Tatsumi's life was not threatened in any way, in fact he was better then ever as far as physical condition was concerned. At least if you ignore the fact that his body has merged with his Teigu to the point you could say that now he _is_ Incursio. Or rather the Danger Beast that it was made out of. His bones and muscles were now stronger, his senses sharpened beyond what is humanly possible and he even gained something akin to a healing factor. And he grew a tail... There were also changes on the inside. His organs were rearranged, their shapes changed, made more effective and efficient. He even had some entirely new organs not seen in humans that were also added. All Tatsumi really needed was rest, but with Tyrant's strength as his own, even that won't be long. The worst is probably behind him already. Having so many changes done to your body in such a short period of time was surely not a pleasant experience.

Akame on the other hand... Was not going to be so well...

Back when the doctor was starting his career as Revolutionary Army's Teigu doctor, he had all of Night Raid participate in tests made on their Teigus. He wanted to see how they work, how they affect them and in Murasame's case - how it kills. He had them kidnap some of their targets instead of outright killing them. Then strapped them to his equipment and had Akame execute them, or just give them Murasame to see the process of it rejecting a potential user. Whatever he found out from those tests he left between himself and Akame. Until now that is.

Because now, he has found large amounts of Murasame's poison stored all over Akame's body. It has filled nearly every available space it could, be it inside organs, blood vessels or muscles. It was causing a constant stream of pain, occasionally peaking so high, doctor's equipment started to go over the scale.

According to him, Akame is showing symptoms all victims of her swords do -be it from a cut, or attempted use- but extremely slowed down and intensified by a ridiculous margin.

He naturally tried to remove at least some of that poison, but quickly learned that it brings no effect and only causes more pain to Akame as painkillers are completely ineffective. Whenever he would poke her with needles or open her up to get the poison out, it would simply move somewhere else as if it was alive.

In the end, doctor confirmed that the poison is slowly killing Akame, giving her a month of life at most based on how the stronger bursts of pain intensify and affect her body. A month, provided she doesn't kill herself in the meantime, which is a very likely possibility. Right now all he could do is keep her asleep with drugs to limit the pain she is experiencing while he tries to come up with a solution. There are drawbacks though. Akame is showing all the signs of someone having a nightmare, a pretty bad one. And she is being trapped inside of it by people trying to help her on top of that.

Her case seemed helpless, and both Nejada and Leone knew this. They knew just how powerless they are and there's not a thing they can do to even ease Akame's pain a little bit.

* * *

A puff of smoke left Nejada's lips as she threw another burned cigarette into the ashtrey, immediately grabbing another one. She's already went through several boxes but it was still not enough. She knew smoke can't fill the hole that's been growing in her chest ever since Sheele's death, but they sure can help her with not thinking about it too much.

Smoke filled her lungs again. She left it there for a few seconds, letting some thoughts fill her head in the meanwhile. Despite her best efforts, they started to affect her.

Lubbock's goggles hanging around her neck suddenly felt as if they were choking her. "Damn it..." Her metalic hand pressed against her lost eye on instinct. _We won, right?_ She asked herself. _Then why? Why does it feel like that? Why does it feel like I'm the biggest loser in the world!?_ Her fist slamed against the table, breaking it along with the ashtray on it. She stared at her handiwork for a while before sighing and grabbing another ashtray from her drawer and leaving it on her prosthetic hand.

It started to get really hard to clear her mind of thoughts of her dead subordinates... Her _f_ _riends_. People she's shared years of her life with, people she laughed and despaired with, people she loved... People that were now gone.

The fact that she will be joining them soon enough somehow brought her relief. She genuinely hoped it would be sooner rather then later.

It was cowardly way of thinking and she knew it. After all, she had new duties now. People like her were needed in rebuilding this Empire, but... Ignoring that, what was left for her in life? Almost all people she called friends are dead and out of three that are alive one is going to die the moment her willpower runs out, another one is slowly and painfully approaching her death, and the last one was fused with his own Teigu and she didn't even know for sure if it was still him in that body or something else.

Is this how the world will repay them? Is that their reward for all they went through? Or is it their punishment? Because it sure as hell felt like one to her.

A tear rolled down her face. First one in years.

* * *

For hours after doctor left to get some sleep, Leone kept sitting next to Akame's bed. She was barely feeling her body anymore because of the sheer amount of painkillers she's taken. Probably more then she should, but it's not like it mattered in her case. As long as she could keep going until she can say goodbye to at least one of them, it's fine with her.

She sighed, gently squeezing Akame's hand. It didn't bring the girl on the bed any comfort, her face still twisted by nightmares she is dealing with. They were away from all the celebrations going on all over the Capital, so the only thing that can be heard in the room are her pained pants and occasional weak scream. _God damn it... She's suffering so badly and there's nothing I can do for her... H_ _a_ _ven't felt this powerless in a while..._

Her eyes turned to Tatsumi, who's bed was across the small room. His face was illuminated by moonlight, showing his calm expression, completely mirroring Akame's pain filled features. "Akame..." He said, still fast asleep.

Leone smiled at that. It was good that at the very least there was one good thing that happened since their 'victory'. She's been silently observing the two obliviously dancing around each other for a while now, even hoping to see Mine try to get in on it. But knowing how that particular romance ended, at least having these two admit how they feel about one another is something to be happy about. That, and they will need each other. Akame especially will need all the support Tatsumi can give her if she is to have any chance at surviving the ordeal she's found herself in.

Her eyes moved towards the moon shining through the window.

She stared at it for a long time, not letting go of Akame's hand for even a moment. At some point she noticed tears rolling down her face on her own reflection in the window. She couldn't even tell when she started to cry though. Between now and the moment she took her last dose of painkillers she felt absolutely nothing.

With her body at least. Her other senses could still pick things up. And now, they were doing just that.

Someone was looking at her. Someone who was close to her. In more then one way.

Turning her head to the side, she was met with Tatsumi's eyes focused on her. They had a predator-like look to them now, but there was still so much warmth behind them. She couldn't see that when he was unconscious, but now all the small doubts about his merging with the Tyrant that she started to have ever since hearing about it from the doctor were gone now. That was Tatsumi, and no one would convince her otherwise. "Hi there." She said, getting rid of her tears.

He smiled gently. "Hi." He got up and without a word hugged her. And after a day like hers, that's just what she needed. She just closed her eyes and for a change, she cuddled into his chest, quietly letting go of her worries and relaxing for this short moment. After all, it was probably her last opportunity to do so. "I'm so glad you're al-" He suddenly tensed up.

Leone could tell what happened. He could feel death reaching for her.

Tatsumi slowly pulled away and looked down at her stomach. He grabbed the cloak she has covered herself with and moved it out of the way. "Leone..." He started trembling.

 _Well, I guess my time has come..._ She got up as well. "Tatsumi..." There were many things she wanted to say right now, so many things she's never told to him, but somehow nothing could leave her mouth. Save for one word. "Goodbye..." She placed her hand on his shoulder as one more tear left her eye.

That's what she was waiting for all this time. That is why she's endured all that pain. All to say that one word. _I'm sorry I didn't wait for you Akame but...I can't can't keep this up anymore... I'm so sorry... To both of you..._

With that final thought, this cat left for her last walk.

* * *

 **Song of the day: Three Days Grace - Time of Dying**


	4. King and Child

For thousands of years, even before the formation of the Empire, there was a great fear spread amongst the people. Regardless of when and where they were born, whether they were poor or rich, no matter how much they excelled in combat. They all feared the Tyrant. The Danger Beast that grew into a legend, crushing anything and anyone that stood in it's way. The greatest warriors were nothing more then bugs. Mightiest weapons mere toothpicks. Tallest and thickest walls simply stones it crushed under it's body. Nothing could stop it, or even slow it down.

But it wasn't always like that.

There was a time when even that great beast which the whole world feared was weak. There was a time the weakest of warriors would force it to run and hide. There was a time when every weapon was a threat. There was a time when even rocks would seem like an impossible obstacle. There was a time when Tyrant was simply weak. The weakest.

And it remembered that time well. Because it knew very well that this weakness was the source of it's strength.

Still, not everyone saw it like that.

And Tyrant remembered what it was like when it found out about it. The crushing feeling of its own powerlessness as a pair of giant black eyes looked down at it through the violet fog. It was a gaze only a disappointed parent can make, and it crushed the young beast to the very core. The creature that gave Tyrant it's life saw nothing of value in what it created.

It was cast out. Broken both in soul and body only to be thrown away like a piece of garbage.

Tyrant could do nothing but watch the eyes that belonged to its father disappear in the fog, never to be seen by it again. The despair it felt was crushing, but there was one thing that kept it's flame of life lit and forced it to hold onto it with all it's remaining strength.

Anger.

It wanted revenge. It wanted to prove it's not a mere failure. That it can still lift itself back up and survive.

And so, the beast started to crawl away from the fog. A long trail of blood left behind it. It oozed from it's body in liters, but Tyrant didn't stop. All the pain did nothing more then add to the fire that has formed in it's eyes. But the blood it has left behind was a clear trace for anything around. Trace that led straight to the wounded, young beast Tyrant was at the time. The smell would tell every predator where it was and that it was week.

It wasn't long before before the first ones started to appear. Rats.

Small, annoying, and numerous. They were watching from afar, safely hiding in the bushes until more of them come to join the feast they are expecting. Some were brave -or hungry- enough to close in and bite Tyrant's hurt legs, but they didn't live long enough to do any damage. Even in that state, Tyrant was more then strong enough to handle a couple of rats. Which meant nothing if they all came at it at once. There was simply too many of them.

However, before they managed to put those numbers to use, something else leaped from the bushes. Another predator, a Zmei. The black draconic creature used it's wings to dash towards Tyrant, sending one of it's 5 heads -each resting on a long, serpent-like neck- to grab Tyrant's throat. It's scales just barely managed to save it from the otherwise fatal blow. Zmei quickly fell back after the failed attack, avoiding Tyrant's claw. The counterattack was enough to throw Tyrant off balance, and almost make it fall to the ground, giving Zmei a perfect opportunity to attack again.

This time it went after Tyrant's limbs. Four of it's heads bit their teeth into each of Tyrant's legs, pinning it down to the ground. A roar of pain rang through the forest as the young beast felt it's legs slowly being ripped out. The last of Zmei's heads hung over it. That was the main head. Bigger then the rest and covered with thicker scales. It hissed at Tyrant as one of its front legs pinned its prey's head to the ground, giving it a perfect view at the weak spot on it's neck.

It wasted no time, immediately biting right into it.

Tyrant's roars of pain were quickly silenced, trapped in its lungs. Life was quickly leaving it, and it felt a surge of rage because of that. It was merely a few meters away from the place where it made a promise to itself. A vow to return and prove what it's worth to the parent that rejected it. And it was going to be killed so soon?

 **No.** Deep within, something like a voice called out to it. **Survive** **.**

That command kept ringing in the beast's head. It's body was calling for it to give in, to let go and end the pain. But something beyond that didn't want it to. And Tyrant was going to listen to that inner voice. It continued to struggle against the Zmei, no matter how hard it would bite into its flesh. There was no way Tyrant would let it's journey end now. Its body suddenly started to burn with pain it never felt before. It came from the same place that inner call to live did, and Tyrant was more then happy whatever it brought with it.

Zmei was getting tired of waiting for Tyrant to give in, but it still persisted. At least until it felt small spikes pierce the inside of it's five mouths. Instinctively, it jerked away from Tyrant, immediately noticing thin, sharp spikes that appeared all over the young Tyrant's body. It didn't have much time to adapt to the situation though. The very next second after letting go of it's prey, Zmei was faced with Tyrant's red eyes, both full of burning rage.

Tyrant opened it's jaws and bit right into Zmei's main head, piercing one of the eyes. This time it was the one to roar in pain. It's four additional heads were rendered useless with the main one unable to give any commands, so Zmei was forced to get away with its wings. It knew Tyrant couldn't hold itself attached to it's head with no ground under it's legs for too long. It was right. Tyrant fell on the ground with a loud thud, immediately bringing itself back into a standing position, ready to fight back. Its legs were shaking, bleeding from open wounds and twisted by broken bones.

Another roar rang through the forest around them. But not one of pain. That roar was a threat. A combined might of all of Tyrant's rage and will to survive focused against the enemy before it.

It gave the Zmei a pause, but did not stop it, quickly getting itself ready to attack again. What did stop it, was a giant white paw smashing it's tail into the ground. It roared in pain, desperately trying to get away. All it's efforts were for nothing though. Mere seconds later all of it's heads along with half of the torso were bitten off by giant jaw of the beast that attacked it - a white lion with yellow, almost shining eyes.

It swallowed Zmei like a small snack before turning it's eyes towards Tyrant. It still stood there, unwilling to drop its guard, despite knowing very well who the beast was. The aura surrounding the lion was overwhelming, it was almost crushing the smaller beast under its gaze. But Tyrant still wouldn't give in. It met the Lion's eyes with its own, defiantly standing before the king of beasts. But that defiance was meaningless. The lion standing before was not an opponent Tyrant had even a slightest chance of harming, much less defeating.

The lion slowly approached Tyrant, still focusing it's eyes on the immobile child before it. A low growl sounded in it's throat, both as a threat and... a sign respect? Tyrant wasn't sure what it felt after hearing that.

Still, it remained in place. It didn't move even as the lion lifted it's giant paw into the air. The first thought that crossed it's mind was that an attack was incoming. Tyrant was prepared to jump away, but then the lion suddenly brought the paw towards its own jaw and bit it hard. Blood immediately fell all over Tyrant's body, covering it's silver scales in red. The reaction was almost immediate. The burning sensation from within has returned, twice as intense as it was when it pushed Zmei away.

The call to survive returned as well, making Tyrant roar out as loudly as it could. It soon felt its legs reshaping, its bones returning to their previous form. Withing moments, Tyrant could feel all of it's limbs completely healed, with not even a scratch left on them. Its shaking ceased as it panted. Slowly, Tyrant looked up. The lion wasn't in front of it anymore, rather standing at the edge of the clearing where Tyrant stood. The king of beasts looked back, waiting.

Two beasts' eyes met again, but this time with no hostility or threats in them.

It wasn't long before Tyrant followed the lion.

* * *

"Goodbye..." That single word cut deep into Tatsumi's soul. Deeper then any blade could ever hope to. It made something snap inside of him; the complete resignation and acceptance of death in Leone's voice felt like he was being stabbed in the heart... And he wouldn't allow her. Not now. Not when they already won. Not after they survived for so long.

Not after he promised himself to not let any of his companions die again.

Not Akeme, not Boss, and not Leone. He's already lost too many of his friends. People he would call his family...

"No!" He roared just as she was about to reach her hand out to the door knob. Leone paused for a second, but decided to ignore Tatsumi's cry and continued on. But Tatsumi didn't allow her to leave. Leone was soon pulled away from the door and pressed against the wall, now face to face with Tatsumi who held her shoulders. "I won't let you do this! I won't let you die! Not now, after all this..." He cried out, his eyes overflowing with tears but with unbreakable determination hidden behind them. Leone could see it clearly, and it almost gave her the motivation to keep going.

But almost is never enough.

"Tatsumi... It's not a matter of whether you let me do this or not... I'm already on borrowed time..." She quietly spoke up after a long second. "I don't know how I managed to keep going as long as I have but... This is it Tatsumi... I'm sorry, but there's nothing you or anyone can do about it... So, please... Let me leave... I don't want you to see me like this..." She felt tears flow down her cheeks, but a gentle smile appeared on her face nonetheless as she placed her hand on top of Tatsumi's head, slowly running her fingers through his hair.

"No, Leone." He looked up at her, staring right into her eyes. "You're wrong. This is not the end." Again, Leone could hear absolute determination in his voice. It was as if he didn't care about her wounds at all, simply stating that she will live on and completely rejecting any possibility that she won't.

Before she had any chance to further think about it, Tatsumi has moved her away from the wall and laid her down on the bed he previously occupied. Resisting him was fruitless, and Leone knew this. Right now he was in a whole another league compared to her. She honestly doubted that she would stand a chance even if she was at full strength. "Tatsumi, what are you..." Her words fell on deaf ears. The focus in Tatsumi's eyes was overwhelming, enough so that it made her shut up and simply wait for whatever he has in store for her. Still, she couldn't help but wander... _What can he possibly be planning_ _?_

"Lionel is not dead yet..." He said, almost as if he sensed her confusion. "Just like with Tyrant, being turned into a Teigu was not enough to truly kill the king of beasts. It may have been hurt, cut to pieces and molded into a weapon, but it was never broken. And it never will be." Her confusion only grew. What did he mean by 'never broken'? Honest broke it with his Teigu, there's no way for her to use it again. "The belt was nothing more then a vessel. Merely a way for the true Beast to move between users. Lionel was not in it from the moment you first used it, it was always inside you."

"What... Are you talking about? He can you possibly know this?"

"I don't. Tyrant does. It remembers many things about Teigus it saw over the years. But that doesn't matter now. Because now..." Tatsumi moved his hand over to his mouth. "It's time for yours and Lionel's younger brother to return the favor." To Leone's astonishment, Tatsumi bit into his arm, not hesitating for even a moment. His teeth seemed to become longer and sharper just before he bit into his own flesh, crushing scales that protected it like they were not even there.

She was sure it was painful, but he never showed even a hint of that. Soon, his blood started to drip down his arm, right onto Leone's stomach. And the moment the red liquid made contact with her skin, Leone understood that everything Tatsumi said was true. The fire she felt every time Lionel was used suddenly returned to her, growing each time a bit of his blood fell on her. It started to fill her whole body, moving beneath her skin, burning away her pain.

Her hand closed into a fist as she roared out loud. All of her instincts were becoming sharper then they ever were as her body merged with the beast inside of her. Beast she was turning into now. Her body was engulfed in white flames, burning the bed under her black. She felt her body transforming again, but not like it always did. This time it went past the point when it would usually stop. She felt her parts of her skin being covered by fur, but not yellow as it always did. It became white as snow. Muscles under her skin became even stronger, making power Lionel's transformations would give her before look like that of a child be comparison. Cat ears and tail she grew accustomed to also appeared again.

Most importantly, she quickly felt Regenerator -Lionel's Trump Card- activate, almost immediately making wounds that have been causing her pain all this time heal within seconds.

The flames around her disappeared and suddenly the whole room became quiet. The full meaning of what just happened slowly started to sink into Leone's mind. Then, after a good half a minute of staring at the ceiling, she started to laugh, quietly at first. Tears flowed down on her face again, but not that of resignation, but rather happiness she thought she wouldn't feel again. "Damn it Tatsumi..." She got into sitting position. "You just don't know how to-" She paused as her eyes turned towards Tatsumi. Or rather, his beet-red face. He was downright boiling on the inside.

Leone followed his eyes, eventually focusing hers on her own chest. The transformation that just happened have not only burned the bed, but also turned her clothes into ash. She was completely naked, not counting the white fur that now covered her legs, arms as well as parts of her chest. And Tatsumi was staring right at her breasts.

"Ahaha hahahahaha!" She grabbed onto her stomach, unable to contain her laughter. Happy tears were still filling her eyes. "Well, there goes the atmosphere!" Without warning she grabs stunned Tatsumi's face and happily shoves it between her breasts. The soft flesh causes Tatsumi's body temperature to grow just a few degrees higher, making Leone laugh even louder.

Even the door to the room being kicked open by Nejada and the doctor couldn't stop her. "Leone, what's wrong!?"

"Ah, Boss! Good thing you're here. I think I broke Tatsumi, think you can fix him? And maybe fix me a drink while you're at it? That would be nice. I need to get drunk, because this-" She points at her transformed body. "-is a lot to take."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thought I'm gonna kill her didn't ya?**

 **Well, at first that was a plan but around the time I was finishing the second chapter I changed my mind. Figured there's still a role for her to play out. And just so you know, Leone's new form is exactly what it was in the manga. Google it if you haven't read it. Or even better, read it yourself.**

 **Song of the day: Disturbed - Tyrant**


	5. Pain and Justice

_It hurts..._

 _It hurts..._

 _It hurts..._

 _It hurts..._

 _It hurts..._

 _It hurts..._

 _It hurts..._

 _It hurts..._

 _It hurts..._

 _It hurts..._

 _It hurts..._

There was nothing else Akame could think about.

There was nothing else for her to think about.

All that filled her mind was nightmarish pain that run throughout her body.

She could see blood-red sky, filled with black clouds above her as her naked body drifted in a sea of blood. Her eyes were blank, skin deathly pale. She made no move, just floated on the surface like doll with cut strings. If anyone saw her like that they would no doubt think she is dead, and to be honest, she would struggle to deny it. It really did feel like she was dead and stuck in some forgotten corner of hell. The blood she was in seemed to never end. No matter where she would look she saw nothing but more of it.

It was falling from the sky, erupting from below and flowing from her body.

Yes, she could feel it. Open wounds on her body, missing pieces of flesh and most importantly a giant hole in her chest where her heart was suppose to be. All of those wounds kept bleeding, and no matter how much they hurt, it would simply not stop, no matter how much time passed.

And how much of it did pass? She didn't know. She knew it hurt, and that was all she could think about. Not even rotting hands emerging from the see of blood all around her registered in her mind. All she noticed was that when they pulled her down into the blood, it started to hurt even more.

* * *

 _Akame..._ Tatsumi squeezed her hand. He quickly noticed her breath getting heavy, slight twitches of her body and tears forming in her eyes. Faster then others in the room. Putting Akame to sleep was not a solution at all. All it really did was make sure she won't kill herself, and that is not what Tatsumi is aiming for. He's going to save her. And he's done wasting time. He turned his head towards the others in the room. "Boss." Be spoke up, getting up and facing her directly.

Nejenda released a puff of smoke through the open window before turning towards him as well. She's burnt through more cigarettes in that single night then he's ever seen her or anyone else do. After he woke up from his... 'shock' endued sleep after having Leone shove his face into her naked breasts he saw boss actually crying while she hugged the cat women. Those were only a couple of tears, but that was the first time he's seen her cry since he's joined the Night Raid. And Leone's expression made it clear that it was the same for her.

It's not like anyone could blame her really. After a victory at a cost like that, what commander wouldn't want to cry if they found out they won't have to bury another friend. "What is it Tatsumi?"

"I know how do help Akame." He stated. There was no time to play with building up to that point. Every second that they waste means more pain for Akame. Nejenda immediately focused on the boy upon hearing that. So did Leone and the doctor. He especially was surprised to hear Tatsumi say that, after all he is one of, if not the best Teigu expert in the world and he's completely powerless when it comes to treating Akame. Hearing a boy half his age suddenly state he knows how to treat her was surprising to say the least. Still, he wasn't nearly arrogant enough to refuse help, especially when the situation is looking so grim.

"What do you mean?" He said.

"I'm going to take Akame to the place where Murasame's root grows. There is an old Ultra-Class Danger Beast that leaves there. And it has a cure for Akame's condition. I'm going to kill it and inject the cure into Akame's body. That's the only way to help her."

Leone raised her eyebrow. "Ultra-Class?"

"Oh, right. Tyrant was classified as an Ultra-Class Danger Beast instead of Super-Class back when it was alive, but since then all Ultra-Class Danger Beasts were killed, mostly turned into Teigus. Now that classification level is simply not used because no known Danger Beast fits it anymore."

"That's some plan you have there Tatsumi..." Nejenda said, puffing out another cloud of smoke. "But I need some explanations first. How do you know this in the first place would be a good start." A quiet groan formed in Tatsumi's throat. Too quiet for anyone but Leone to hear it. He was not enthusiastic about getting questioned now and wasting even more time, but... It was Boss. She of all people deserves answers about what her subordinates are planning.

"After I fused with Incursio I gained access to Tyrant's memories, at least some of them. And... Well, that Danger Beast I was talking about... its Tyrant's father." Something inside of him screamed in anger as he said that, filling him with sudden lust for blood. And that didn't escape Leone's attention either. "I know it's still there. The air around Murasame's root is poisonous, but that Beast survived it for so long, it's body mutated. By now it can no longer live without that poison in it's blood. And that blood is what I will use to save Akame. That Beast is constantly injecting itself with a countermeasure against the poison's effects. If I can get my hands on that, Akame will live."

With all that said, Tatsumi got up and headed towards the exit. Determination that filled every word that came out of his mouth was enough to momentarily stun everyone in the room. "Wait!" The doctor managed to get himself together just in time to stop Tatsumi before he left. He pressed his hand against the boy's chest, but he didn't even seem to acknowledge it as a form of resistance. He did react to his voice though. "Tatsumi, where are you going!?"

"To the Imperial Archive under the palace. There is a book there with information I need. Specifically where Murasame's root is located. Tyrant's memories didn't include that bit."

"And what? You're just going to drag that girl all the way there? It's a known fact that Murasame's root is somewhere beyond the Great Eastern Sea. The journey there will take months. She won't make it there alive!"

"Then what do you suggest? Kill her now and put her out of her misery? I won't let that happen!" He pushed doctor's hand away, just barely managing to not break it. He was ready to move on, but then another hand pushed against his chest. This time harder. _Much_ harder. Hard enough to form a shockwave that threw Nejenda's cigarette out of the window. His gaze fell on the hand that stopped him. Following it, he soon realized that it was Leone's. Her eyes were filled with the kind of sisterly concern that almost made him want nothing more then to hug her and cry all of his sorrows into her shoulder. Almost.

She was wearing a brown cloak now, to hide her... _everything_. Nejenda tried to coax her into putting some actual cloths on, but Leone kept refusing, saying they're uncomfortable. "Calm down Tatsumi. You're not going push through everything like that." Here eyes stared him down, forming thin slits. "We all want to help Akame, but you heard what doc said. Crossing the Great Sea will take months even with the fastest ship Empire has to offer. And Akame has one at most. Even if we find a way to go around that..." She turned her eyes towards Akame, urging Tatsumi to do the same. "... Tell me, Tatsumi. What do you think she will be by the time she receives your help?

". . ."

 _A wreck._ _An empty shell of who she_ _was.._ _._ That's what she will be. He knew it. He _remembered_ it. Proud warriors reduced to crying dolls unable to find it in them to do anything but try ending their own existence. Wisest generals turned into screaming lunatics. Loyal soldiers giving into insanity. That's what Akame would become within days. And after months of that? He was honestly afraid to even imagine it.

"But what else do we have left? Putting her in a coma doesn't achieve anything. In fact it might be making things worse for her mind." He pointed his claw at the doctor. "He doesn't know what to do as well. You tell me Leone, what other option is there left?"

She didn't know. She honestly had no idea. Just like him, she wanted nothing more then to help Akame, but she didn't know how. And how could she? Even the best doctor they have had no idea what to do. Tatsumi's plan was admittably the best they have. For the simple reason that it was the only one, as much as she hated to admit it.

And luckily, she didn't have to tell him that. "If doctor doesn't know how to help, then how about we see what others that tried to cure that curse came up with?" Everyone in the room focused their attention on Nejenda, who just finished lighting another cigarette. "You brats owe me a damn cig..." She muttered under her nose. "Form what I understand, Tyrant had memories of other Murasame users touched by that curse, right? And they were no doubt who tried to help them. All medical records of their attempts and any progress they made must have been stored in the Imperial Archive."

Leone looked back at Tatsumi with a smile, removing her hand from his chest and instead placing it on her hip. "See? There might be a way after all. Come on, I'll go with you. We'll make a milk run to the Imperial Archive!" Before anything else could be said, she swiftly tucked him under her shoulder and hugged close to her body. Ignoring his embarrassment, she headed towards the exit.

"Not so fast lady!" Doctor stopped them. "You're not going anywhere until I'm done with you!"

She raised her eyebrow at that. "And why's that?" A smirk suddenly appeared on her face. The kind of smirk both Tatsumi and Nejenda knew all too well. "Don't tell me you still didn't get a good enough look at my body... But I guess if that's the case I have no choice but-!"

"I assure you that won't be necessary..." He raised his hand, stopping her just before she threw away her cloak. This was probably the first time any of them saw as much as a blush on doctor's stoic face. "Your body is still undergoing rapid changes the likes of which I've never seen before. Putting yourself in any state of prolonged physical activity at a time like that is can be extremely dangerous."

"Oh, come on! I can handle it! And it's not like I feel anything's wrong with me anyways! I feel better then ever!"

"There's nothing to worry about doctor." Tatsumi cut in. "I've- _Tyrant'_ s seen that kind of transformation happen before under worse conditions then what was going on with Leone yesterday. The changes you're talking about are all connected to Lionell settling inside of Leone's body. The actual transformation was over by the time you and Boss run in here last night."

There wasn't much room for doctor to argue. As much as he hated to admit it, Tatsumi knew more about the transformations his and Leone's bodies underwent then anyone in the room, and most likely the whole world. With nothing more to say, he sighed in defeat and got out of the way. "There is one other problem though." Nejeda spoke up. "Well, quite a few of those actually. The whole Archive was under lock-down for years. We got the gate to the main chamber open this morning, but the place is full of traps and there are danger beasts guarding each of the archive blocks. We've lost 4 people already from traps alone and another 3 because of Danger Beasts. I've ordered everyone to pull back from the archive and guard the exit until support arrives."

"Then I guess we are the support then. Come on Leone." He squeezed himself from under her arm and went ahead.

"All right! I'm _so_ itching to give that new bod a test run!"

* * *

The celebrations after the fall of the Empire were still going on. People were singing and dancing on streets; many were drinking and feasting with their families and friends. Tatsumi soon realized that this was the first time he really felt like the Capital was a living city. No one had to fear that they will be dragged away and executed by the police for seemingly no reason. No one had that lifeless vibe in their moves anymore. They were truly happy, and filled with hope for a brighter future.

But it couldn't be like that for everyone. Overthrowing a whole country -especially one as large and corrupted as the Empire- is not something that can happen without a lot of bloodshed. As someone said once "Revolutions require blood" and this one was never going to be an exception. A lot of people died the previous day. A lot of families were torn apart. A lot of innocent blood was spilled. And none of that could be avoided. All that could be done was to make sure none of that sacrifice goes to waste. Or at least, that's what Tatsumi thought.

As he and Leone run through the streets, they could already see guillotines being set up. Waiting for the corrupted nobles and captured Imperial war-criminals to meet their end. The revolutionary army had a _very_ long list of people to be executed, even after Night Raid killed so many. The nobles were trying to run away in mass since the revolution ended, but only a few would manage. The whole 'Higher City' as the nobles called it, was cut off from the rest of the capital by the revolutionaries and the common people. If any of them were to try leaving, they would be either arrested on the spot, or ripped to shreds by an angry mob.

The blood shed yesterday was just the tip of the iceberg.

Even the Emperor was not spared from the wrath of the people. He is already awaiting his execution in prison. Tatsumi found it hard to feel strongly about that in either way. On one hand, this was just a kid. One horribly manipulated by a true mastermind that caused more suffering to this country and it's people then anyone ever thought possible. But despite that, Tatsumi could feel just how far gone that kid was when he fought him. He knew there was no rescue for him, no way for him to fully turn away from Honest's 'teachings'. Even if he realizes what lies he was being fed his whole life, he has already been built out of those lies. The very foundation of his person was warped by Honest to the point of no return.

To Tatsumi, killing him before guilt reaches him seemed like the kinder thing to do.

"Hey, Leone!" Tatsumi screamed. The air was rushing past him so fast it made it hard for either of them to understand one another. They were running fast, jumping from one rooftop to another. Still, Leone's ears were easily able to pick up on Tatsumi's words, at least as long as she focused on them. She turned her face to him, occasionally glancing back at the rooftops ahead to aim another jump. "How did Honest die!?" That was a question he's been asking himself ever since he woke up. One of many. The pubic still didn't know that he was killed, and they were hoping for a public execution. One that would go down in the history books. They were in for a disappointment.

"I smashed his head into pieces! Why are you asking!?" She yelled back.

"I was thinking if we should hang his corpse somewhere! You know, to let people know he's dead!"

"Sounds good to me! But let's run it with Boss first! You never know if she has anything planned!"

"Alright, let's snatch his body when we'll be on out way back!"

They were already at the base of the palace. Or at least what was left of it. After the Supreme Taigu's rampage, only the first block was still intact, at least mostly. The revolutionaries that were sent to the archive had to dig to get inside, as all entrances were completely ruined.

With a single jump, they've made it all the way to the top. "Phiew! That was fast!" Leone exclaimed, stretching her back, and showing Tatsumi a bit of her naked body. Whether that was intentional or not would remain a mystery to anyone but Leone. "I'm starting to like that transformation! Hey Tatsumi, are there any catches I should know about?"

He coughed in response, trying to get his blush under control. "You're asking that _now_? Should have done that before." He sighed as he started to approach the entrance revolutionaries dug up. "The only thing I can think of are even stronger animal urges than what normal transformations would do to you and the inability to transform back. You're going to be like this until you die. You don't really need that belt anymore. It will fix itself with time to be used by someone else and Lionell's soul will return to it in time."

"So no changing back, huh? Not much of a problem for me. Honestly, I always felt more myself when using my Teigu anyways. And that stronger urges… I guess I can feel those. I mean..." She pressed herself against his back, giving his neck a long, slow lick "My body is just _trembling_ whenever I'm with you~"

"L-L-LEONE!?"

"Ahahahahahahhaha!" She slapped his butt as she walked past him, a little stronger then she intended. "Don't worry Tatsumi! I know you and Akame are a thing, so don't expect any interruptions from me!" They continued to walk forward in silence, until Leone lowered her mouth right next to Tatsumi's ear. "Unless you guys want me to join in~" She bit it. " _Nom_." Immediately, Tatsumi jumped away with a blush so deep his face almost melted into a puddle. "Oh, come on, don't be like that. It was just a suggestion. Now come on. Let's check out that archive!" She jumped down the hall revolutionaries dug up, ignoring the ladder placed there.

Tatsumi followed close behind, but keeping a noticeably larger distance from his furred friend. She playfully ruffled his hair for a while, smiling like an idiot all the while. _Am I overdoing things? Nah, doesn't matter. I'm too happy to stop just like that._ Despite that, her smile suddenly disappeared from her face.

"Leone? Did something happen?" Anger started to dominate her features as she stared at the floor. More precisely, on the giant puddle of dried blood on it. No body was around though.

"That was here..." She said, a dark vibe clearly recognizable in her voice. "He was here… Honest was here damn it!"

"Didn't they just take him away? Revolutionaries must have seen that bastard's body right?"

Leone shook her head. "They didn't see it..." He eyes turned to the corridor on their left. "That damn piece of shit… He's still fucking alive!" Tatsumi's eyes snapped wide open. He could feel it too. The stink only the likes of Honest could give off. The trail was leading straight down that corridor. "Tatsumi, you go to those Archives. I have some unfinished business to deal with."

* * *

"Ghh... Curse that women!" Heavy footsteps rang through dark, empty hallways as he run. The former Prime Minister held onto a torch for his dear life, even though it was almost burned out. Ever since his body regenerated from that brutish women's assault he's been running almost non stop, struggling to find any exit in the darkness. _It was a_ _miracle_ _I survived this... If it_ _wasn't_ _for that alchemist's_ _augments_ _I would be done for._ A smile appeared on his face, one that not even mother couldn't love. _Ancient alchemist my ass, she tasted like a little girl. Just how I like it_ _._

With all the augments done to his body to make sure he survives nearly anything, he is far more durable then most, and on top of that he can fully regenerate all parts of his body, save one - his brain. That's why that assassin came so close to killing him. Had she punched him just a bit harder, his brain would be done for and unable to mold back together. Even though he survived, he still could feel that there is some long lasting damage. He had problems recalling some memories, his left eye wasn't working properly, and most importantly, every so often he would feel pain spread through his head. The kind of pain that makes you want to tear your skull open.

But that meant nothing now.

He was still alive and with a plan. The Empire was done for, unfortunately, but he has prepared more then enough backup plans for that outcome. He had secret mansions all over The Empire, all filled with brainwashed servants. Even with his currant failure, he will still be able to have a fairy comfortable life. Maybe not on the same level as what he had as the Prime Minister, but good enough.

The servants will take care of everything for him, and whenever he feels like having something _special_ for dinner, he can have them kidnap some people from nearby villages.

Or maybe even make them have children themselves. It will be a while before the little ones grow into the right age, but he will be able to stock up on them with time. _Yes, yes... That sounds like a great plan~_ His smile widened, a wicked snicker sounded from between his teeth.

The tunnel that led all the way to the closest one of his mansions was near, right around the corner. Being so close to the Capital might not be safest thing to do though. He'll have to move further away once his headaches stop. There are sure to be search parties sent after him once those cursed revolutionaries realize that his body is gone. Hopefully once he is already long gone.

He picked up his pace as he closed in to the wall that hid the secret entrance into the tunnel. His hand reached for the small button between the stone bricks, opening the tunnel. His smile started to get wider again as the stone wall started to move up. It grew and grew along with the malice in his eyes. It kept growing until it revealed the grinning cat behind the wall. "Hi there. Missed me?

* * *

It wasn't hard for Tatsumi to find his way around the Palace. The walls might have not even been there and it would make little difference to him. Not only did Tyrant's memories prove to be an excellent guide, but also its senses gave him more then enough spatial awareness to swiftly run through all the twists and turns of the Palace. He could even hear the voices of the revolutionaries that were sent down into the archive. They weren't talking much, mostly remaining focused on the archive itself and not letting anything out of it. It's not like he could make out much of what they were saying anyways.

Tatsumi made sure that his steps were loud enough for them to hear before he even entered their line of sight. They were no doubt on edge. "Who's there!?" One of them yelled out just as Tatsumi was about to make the final turn. From the low, stern voice alone Tatsumi could tell the man was old and experienced. Or a very heavy smoker. Possibly both.

"General Nejenda sent me. I'm Tatsumi." He heard the man grab his rifle. "I'm coming out with my hands up. I would appreciate not getting shot." _Not that it would do much._ The boy did as he said, however as soon as he stepped out of the corner, the man's partner - a middle aged women - smacked his hand with a karate-chop, making him drop his weapon and followed that up with another karate-chop, this time to the head.

"The hell are you doing, dad? General has sent us a word that there will be support coming, right?" She said, leaning over the man, who was actually the smaller one out of the two. By far. The women was easily over two meters tall, with muscular build akin to Leone's, though not with nearly as impressive breasts. Her hair was blue, tied in a ponytail that reached between her shoulder blades. She had her rifle on her back and a saber by her side.

"But sweetie, you never know if there is an enemy lurking around. He might be part of the Empire's remnants!"

"Yeah, and what's the likelihood of that? What's left of the Empire has been pushed out of the capital, and whoever is still here knows better then to stick their heads under the chopping block. And just look at him, he's just a kid- WOAH!?" She jumped back as soon as she saw Tatsumi's mutated body. "Damn, general mentioned that you guys look strange, but that's a little beyond what I imagined... But general mentioned there will be two of you coming." She pointed at a radio on the floor. _Amazing what technology Empire's been holding back on._ "Where's the other one?"

Tatsumi lowered his arms. "My friend got held up by some unfinished business. She'll join us soon." They shook hands as soon as he made his way to her. "Like I said before, my name is Tatsumi. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Asako, sergeant Asako. And that old geezer is my father - _p_ _rivate_ Kazuto." She smirked as her father turned away with his arms crossed in response to her mocking.

"Nice to meet you as well, sir. But sergeant, why are there only two of you here? Shouldn't there be more?"

She sharpened her gaze. "There were more of us 10 minutes ago..." With a sigh she crossed her arms. There were no bodies around and Tatsumi couldn't smell blood around here, there were no signs of fighting either. It didn't seem like anything bad happened here. "Most of my unit got torn to shreds and we have two MIAs. On top of that the researchers we were escorting along with the other unit that was with us decided they're done waiting and went back there."

 _Great... Because it just couldn't be easy._ "What about those two MIAs? How do you know they're not dead?"

"I don't. I can only hope..." It didn't escape Tatsumi's attention that she started rubbing her thumb against a ring that decorated her finger. "Are we waiting for your friend, or should we go ahead?" It didn't take Danger Beast level of perception to see she wants to start the search as soon as possible. For a moment Tatsumi focused his entire attention on his hearing, trying to listen in on what Leone was doing. And once he achieved that, a smile appeared on his face.

"No need. Now that I think about it, it might take her a while. She will catch up with us, so let's go."

* * *

 _Oh boy, am I happy right now._ _.._ Catching up to the shit's fart was easy enough, the idiot was making so much noise with that fat ass of his she could have heard him from miles away. It wasn't long before she figured out he has some kind of secret escape route, and she wouldn't be herself if she didn't use that to make a grand entrance.

And searching for that tunnel was so worth it. The look on his face was priceless. That moment when his disgustingly happy grin gave way to utter despair was something she would remember for a _long_ time. And she was going to enjoy making his despair grow even further. "W-What the-!?" Before he finished, her fist smashed into his stomach, sending the former minister flying towards the stone wall behind him with enough strength to form a crack on it.

"Oh, sorry for that. I wasn't going to punch that hard, but I'm having problems with controlling my strength right now. Hope you can forgive me~" She approached him as he struggled to get back on his feet, cracking her fingers. She was about to reach her hand to grab Honest's head, but suddenly, he pulled his gun out of his pocket, just as he did before. And just as he did then, he fired, hitting Leone square on the head. Upon impact, her head shot back, halting her moves.

"Gah... That hurts..." He spat a curse out along with his blood. Struggling, he got up, holding his hand over his stomach. "Damn this women, how dare she touch me like-!?" He bit his tongue in horror, suddenly realized something. The women he shot, was still standing.

Leone slowly started to straighten her head back up, only making Honest's terror grow further. The bullet he fired was placed right between her teeth, and she was more then happy to show it to him along with her sinister grin. Not waiting too long. She spat the bullet out towards Honest's hand with enough force to rip his thumb out, forcing him to drop his weapon. "AAAAAAAAAGH!" He held his other hand over the wound, immediately attempting to run away.

"Oh~ Leaving already?" He was running fast for someone so fat, but to Leoen's eyes, he was moving at a snail's pace. With one dash she was already right behind him, with her leg hooked over his. The second he tried to move further ahead, he tripped, smacking his chin against the floor. This didn't stop him though. He still tried to crawl away. _Can't have that~_ She leaned over casually and grabbed his fat leg, happily listening to his begging screams. Screams that only got louder and more desperate when she tightened her grip on his appendage, just enough to hear his bone crack. "Oh, come on, don't be a baby, crying over something like this..." She flipped him on his back and placed her leg on his knee. "THIS is what you can cry over!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAA! AAAAAGH! WHYYYYY!?" His scream rang across the entire palace as Leone broke his knee in, twisting it afterwards until his lower leg was hanging only on his skin and muscles.

"Why? You ask WHY!?" She lifted him by the throat, glaring a hole in his skull. "For every life that was lost because of you!" She smashed him into the wall. "For every child left with no parents!" She punched his teeth out. "For every family you tore apart!" She smashed her fist into his chest, breaking his ribs. "For every soldier forced to serve you! For everyone who your sick henchmen killed and tortured! For every village that struggles to survive because of you! For everyone who had to die to stop this insanity! For Sheele! For Blaut! For Chelsea! For Lubbock! For Mine! For Akame! For Night Raid!" With each sentence she would hit his fat stomach again and again, each time stronger then before.

Soon she stopped bothering to find reasons to hit him. She would just do it for her own amusement. She would break his bones, crush his organs, rip his muscles apart… All because she could.

And because he deserved it all and then some.

She eventually smacked his stomach so hard, she forced everything that was in there out. Including a small, half digested hand. One that could only belong to a child. A _very_ young child. Seeing that, Leone dropped him on the ground and stared at the hand. He tried to move, but couldn't. With no bone in his body left intact, he could only lay there and wait, while Leone stood there still, trying to figure out what else can she break to make him suffer even more.

And that's when the answer came to her. Her keen eyes noticed his body slowly healing. His shattered bones were forming themselves back, organs and muscles returned to their original shapes, missing skin would grow back. "Oh..." She smiled. "Did your Teigu copy abilities of mine? Some body modifications maybe? Well, I don't care how you do it, but you're going to be cursing that ability of yours for a _looong_ time." She returned to ripping and tearing at his body.

But she wouldn't kill him. Oh no… She was only one person with a score to settle with him. There were others waiting in the line. And what a long line it was...

* * *

Asking Alexandria - Where Did It Go?


	6. Depth and Darkness

Impressive is one of many words Tatsumi would use to describe the Imperial Archive. Huge and dangerous would be on the list too. The moment he, Asako and her father opened the gate, he got to see the largest chamber he's ever been in, easily reaching kilometers in diameter. And depth… Even with Tyrant's eyes he couldn't see what was on the very bottom. And that was only the main chamber, each level of the archive housed at least six archive storage chambers. He was so dazzled by the place he almost didn't notice a Danger Beast flying towards him from above. But 'almost' wasn't even nearly enough to surprise him. In a split second, Tatsumi kicked the creature's jaw and threw it away. It didn't die, but didn't immediately try attacking him again either.

Intimidation meant nothing for the traps though. Still absorbed in watching the giant chamber, Tatsumi fell into at least three traps before he learned to watch where he's going, each time ending up saved by Asako. The traps ranged from classic stuff like spears coming out of walls, arrows and darts shooting from statues, giant saws, gas dispensers and so on, to more sophisticated anti-intruder measures. Such as an artificial Danger Beast that pretended to be normal objects that laid around the place, or even replaced missing bricks and bits of the floor. Tatsumi almost fell victim to one that hid as a chest, but fortunately for him, a few of Asako's man died because of those creatures, so she made sure to let him know he should be watching what he puts his hands on.

It wasn't far from the entrance when he saw first bodies. They were relatively fresh, only a few hours old, but they didn't belong to the group that left right before he arrived. Those were Asako's man. Two of them, both without their heads. "They got killed by one of those Danger Beasts that attacked you before. I don't know why, but they only took their heads and flew away to god knows where..." She couldn't bring herself to look at her dead friends for too long. "I'm not looking forward to informing their families..." With a long sigh, she looked at Tatsumi. "Alright, listen up. Now that you got a feel for this place, let's move on to our objective."

"Right. But remember that I have my own business to take care of in here too." He moved ahead. Asako quickly matched his pace, while Kazuto stayed a few steps behind them, just far enough to not get in their way and guard their rear. Not that he really needed to. Tatsumi could hear rats moving three floors below, and now that he was actually paying attention, nothi9ng could sneak up on them.

"Don't worry, once we're done, you can feel free to look for whatever you want to find. Just, um… This place is kinda big, you know..." She waved her arm around.

"Let me worry about that. So, your objective? General didn't really tell my much. Said you'll fill me up."

"Right. To make things simple, we're here to secure the archive for study. And to achieve that, we need to do two things: get rid of the traps, and get rid of Danger Beasts. The first point is easy, we just need to disable the control mechanism few levels below. Normally this place was manned with people that would make sure the traps are not active whenever someone visits, but ever since the Danger Beasts broke out from their cages on the bottom level and place was sealed all traps stay active. The Danger Beasts themselves… They're gonna be a problem. The good thing is, that we only need to clear the main chamber for now. All storage chambers are sealed and nothing should be able to get out as long as we don't let it out."

She was right about that. Tatsumi could hear at least one Danger Beast sleeping in each of the storage chambers. _It's strange that anything's still alive after all this time. Food isn't exactly in high supply in here..._

"We still have to deal with everything that's in here though. That's gonna be a pain..." Kazuto rubbed the back of his head, revealing an old scar hidden behind his hair. By the looks of it, it was left by a blunt weapon, most likely a mace.

"Shouldn't there be more of you here then? This sounds like a bit too much to ask of two small teams."

"Yeah… You see, that wasn't the original plan. We didn't know the security systems are actually still working, not to mention the Danger Beasts lurking around. At first we were just suppose to escort the researchers into the control room and secure the area until the Army can spare more people. And ass you can see..." She motioned her head at two headless corpses. "It didn't really go as we thought it would. Hope you can make a difference kid."

"I hope so too. So, where do we start?"

"Let's try to catch up with the others. Hope they didn't kill themselves by now..." She started to walk forward, heading straight towards the staircase that led to the level below, Kazuto right behind her. Tatsumi stood still for a while, trying to find the other team with his senses. It was impossible though. The place is too big for his hearing to pick up anything without any disturbances at distances larger then a couple of floors. He soon gave up and caught up to Asako, jumping over a pressure plate on the floor in the process. _Who the hell designed this place?_ Protecting all this knowledge from intruders was one thing, but the amount of traps set around here is ridiculous.

And this is only the first level.

On the second one, they started passing a lot of dead Danger Beasts, ones killed both during their first venture into the archive and by those that decided to go down there again. There were no human bodes to be seen though, discounting old skeletons of people long forgotten. There was quite a lot of those. Some still had their old rusty armors on and broken swords lying by their sides. No doubt there were attempts to clear this place made long before. Looks like they all failed though.

The question is, why?

The Archive was no doubt an important place for the Empire, so why did they gave up on it after putting so much effort into reclaiming it? Going deeper into the chamber only revealed more skeletons, of both people and Danger Beasts, but no answers as for question that was bothering Tatsumi. There had to be a reason. And he had a strange feeling he's not going to like the answer.

* * *

 _Please…_

It still hurt. The endless cycle of drowning in the sea of blood and reemerging continued with no sign of stopping, and she was nearing the limit of what her mind could take. Blood mixed with tears dripped out of her eyes, but no cry could be heard, even though her mouth remained open as if trying to scream.

 _Somebody…_

It was unbearable. Every inch of her body screamed and begged her to make the pain stop, but she couldn't do anything. She found it hard to fight back against the despair as it started to overwhelm her. How much time has passed? Days? Months? Years? She couldn't even tell how long she's been here. How long that pain lasted or for how much longer it will continue... Time seemed to completely lose its meaning in this place.

 _Anyone…_

She felt something touch her cheek, washing her bloody tears away. The gesture didn't bring any comfort though. Because as soon as her cheek was wiped clean, the hand that did it grabbed her by the hair and violently pulled under the surface. Deep into the darkness.

 _Help me…_

* * *

Level after level, the three continuously cleared the archive of the Danger Beasts. It was almost as if there was an endless supply of them just waiting at every corner. The first few floors were relatively empty, but the deeper they went, the more danger they would encounter. They kept attacking from above, from below and from every dark hole they could crawl into. Some were as small as a cat, others as large as cart, all equipped in long claws and teeth, with their stinking, almost rotting bodies covered in gray armor, almost as hard as iron. They all threw themselves at the three with equal ferocity, and rage that only seemed to increase the deeper they went. And they were deep. At least 50 levels below already, and they still couldn't see the bottom.

But Tatsumi could at least hear it. The echo bouncing off walls was just strong enough for him to hear something is down below, though he still couldn't tell what or even how deep it was.

The traps were not making things any easier too. Every brick they stepped on could have been a pressure plate, every wall could hide spikes in it. It was tiring to watch out for all of that and keeping the Beasts out of the way at the same time. Tatsumi could take it. The Beasts they encountered so far were all weak even by standards of his old self, from back when he was just a naive kid entering the Capital blissfully unaware of what it truly is. The problem was with the other two.

They were just soldiers. Damn gook ones, but they never trained even half as hard as he did. And they didn't merge with an ancient Danger Beast either. They were just humans. While Tatsumi was effortlessly squashing the beasts that came at them as if they were bugs, they were getting tired. The kilometers of marching, fighting and avoiding traps were taking a huge toll on them. Asako's sword swings were loosing power behind them, Kazuto's aim was decreasing. They needed a rest, and fast.

But the main issue was that there was nowhere for them to rest in the first place. The Beasts kept on coming no matter what, traps were hidden in every wall. The only way for them to rest at all was to get to the control room. They already knew where it was, just three levels below. They just needed to get there without dying. And that was not going to be easy.

"Asako!" The women has finally made the critical mistake that was bound to happen sooner or later. Her sword bounced off the armored side of a Danger Beast she attacked. She aimed at a small space between the plates that could be used to pierce the Beast's heart, just as she did to many more of its kind before now. But this time, her arm just wouldn't move as high up as she wanted it to. This time she missed, and left herself wide open for a counter. The Beast she attacked immediately turned towards her and opened it's wide jaws.

She jumped away just in time to avoid its teeth, but not those of the other Beasts that were after her. Immediately, she felt one of the smaller ones bite into her knee. "Gah!" She lost her balance and fell back on the floor. And with that she activated one of the traps. A spear shot out from the ground, right where the small beast was.

And where her knee was as well.

"AAAAAA!" She screamed in pain as the metal pierced straight through her bones, nearly cutting her legs in half altogether. The pain soon joined with fear has paralyzed her. The larger Beast as closing in again, ready to finish the job and she couldn't do anything. She watched helplessly as the giant jaws full of razor sharp teeth start to close in around her. She felt its stinking breath on her face, almost making her ready to puke. Even though her sword was still in her hand, she couldn't even make it budge. Her muscles went stiff, leaving her powerless to change her fate.

But the fate never came to claim her. She soon watched as the Beast is pulled away from her. It closed it's jaws right before her face as Tatsumi pulled it by it's tail, throwing it away at a group of smaller ones. The boy dashed back to the Beast so fast he was barely a blur. Hell, if she didn't know any better, she would have said he teleported.

Once next to the Beast, Tatsumi smashed his hand into it, splattering its head over the floor like it was nothing. He quickly did alike with another big one, getting rid of it as if it was just a pest, all the while squishing the small ones under his boots like bugs. He wasn't even using any weapons, just those clawed hands of his. It really did seem like she and Kazuto weren't even needed here. That boy was leagues above them. They simply couldn't compete with the sheer magnitude of the power he displayed.

But she won't allow herself to give up just yet.

There was still something to do. Someone for her to live for.

With her hand lightly touching her stomach, she lifted her sword into the air. Fighting the pain, she swung at the closest Beast, killing it just as another took it's place. She aimed the blade straight into its eye, but the damned thing dodged and grabbed the sword with it's mouth instead. It threw it away as it ripped it out of her weakened grip, only to take a bullet to the head.

Her father run over to her side, sending bullet after bullet into heads of approaching Danger Beasts. Asako quickly reached for her sidearm and started firing as well, though hardly able to compete with her father with accuracy of her shots, especially in her currant condition.

But then, without any warning a light shone throughout the archive. A light that came from fire.

A wave of flames suddenly enveloped the last group of approaching Danger Beasts, quickly turning them into molten, carbonized statues whether they were big or small. Both Asako and Kazuto could clearly feel the heat against their faces even from a few meters away. It only lasted for a few seconds but the heat was intense enough for their clothes to start catching fire. Kazuto even had to put down the flames that started to appear on his beard.

They didn't waste too much time on that though. The source of the fire was a more pressing issue. They quickly turned in the direction the flames came from, only for their jaws to hit the floor. "Asako, are you alright!?" Tatsumi started to approach them; the inside of him mouth still almost shining from the heat. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have allowed them to overwhelm you like that."

He knelt down and looked at her leg. _It's not good... The spear completely broke the knee... The kneecap is shattered into pieces. No way I can_ _do anything about it._ He doubted even professional doctors could do anything either. The damage was simply too large, and on top of it not only was the spear still plunged through her leg, they were not exactly in a great place for providing medical attention. There was really only one kind of treatment he could offer. "Asako... I'm sorry, but I'll have to amputate your leg." He said with no hint of reluctance in his voice.

She looked mixed for a moment but nodded anyways. "Do it." He pulled his belt out of his pants and wrapped it tightly around her thigh. There was absolutely no hesitation in his moves as he lifted his arm into the air, ready to slam it into the leg.

"Now, wait just a second!" Kazuto yelled out. "You can't just do it here! We're in the middle of Danger Beast infested archive and she'll bleed out before we can get any help!"

"I know this is not ideal, but that's the best option we have." He looked back at the old man. His eyes almost piercing him with sheer determination.

"He's right, dad... We can't go back now, and I will only slow us down on the way below. Leave me at the control room... I'll barricade myself there." The man didn't press on with the issue. He turned away from the scene as Tatsumi raised his hand again, unable to bare looking at his daughter being subjected to such a crude treatment on her own volition. Asako herself placed her scarf into her mouth, only now realizing how much her hands are shaking.

Tatsumi started without any warning. His hand smashed down so hard and so fast it cut her lag clean off, right above her knee. The pain quickly engulfed her body, making her scream out into the scarf in her mouth as her teeth closed around it. With her eyes closed, she shot her head back with tears soon starting to roll down her face. Hearing his daughter in pain, Kazuto quickly knelt down at her side, hugging her to himself. Her hands immediately clenched onto his arms.

This wasn't over though, and she knew it once she felt heat against her leg. Tatsumi has heated up the scales on his hand and placed his red-hot palm over the bleeding wound. This only brought more pain and screams. Her face was getting pale from the lack of oxygen just before she started to calm down. Blazing pain was still washing through her body, but she slowly opened her eyes and calmed down her screams, turning them into pained pants.

Tatsumi got up, allowing Kazuto to calm his daughter down. He looked down at his hand, still radiating with heat. He didn't know he could do that. He didn't even imagine being able to breathe fire before now. But when he saw Asako getting hurt, he knew he has to take care of the Danger Beasts fast, and hacking and slashing wasn't going to cut it.

And then he saw another vision. In it, Tyrant was facing a Humanoid looking rock monster on a lake of blazing magma. It kept throwing giant boulders at it, some covered in lava. The fight didn't last long though. The rock monster was quickly able to overwhelm Tyrant with the magnitude of its attacks and its sheer size. By then the Tyrant was still young, relatively speaking. Barely over a century old. It's opponent towered over it by nearly a hundred meters, and had no problems with overpowering Tyrant and throwing it into the magma.

The Beast was quickly devoured by flames as it sank into the molten rock. And it embraced that heat, made it fuel for the fire on the inside. It wasn't going to let some heat beat it after all. When its scales melted away, it replaced them with newer, stronger ones. When its skin burned into a crisp, it grew a better one. When the heat started to overwhelm it, Tyrant mad it its own. And just as the rock monster was readying itself to leave, Tyrant gladly allowed all of that heat out onto it. Slowly, Tyrant melted away bits and pieces of the beast, removing its legs, its arms, and finally its head.

And now Tatsumi could feel that heat too. It started to build up in his lungs, pushing against his throat. He let it all out, just as Tyrant did. And he did it without even thinking. It just came over him like a divine message.

He honestly wanted to think more about it, but for some reason he couldn't find anything about for him to question. It felt so natural to him... Enough so that it filled him with fear. "Mr. Kazuto." Tatsumi spoke up as he turned towards the man. "We have to move out. The sooner we get to the control room, the safer she will be." Looking at the women, Tatsumi quickly realized she is still awake, just unable to bring herself to speak up. Her hands were still holding onto her father's clothes as her body trembled. She was breathing heavily, though barely able to catch her breath, even with the scarf out of her mouth. He could still see tears in her eyes as she rested her forehead on Kazuto's shoulder.

Hearing him, the man slowly nodded and gently lifted Asako with his arms, careful to not cause her more pain. "Let's go." They broke into a slow run. Tatsumi couldn't hear any Danger Beasts nearby, so he deduced that they must have taken out any that were standing in their way to the control room. He could still hear them though. And they were closing in, both from above and below. They needed to move fast to make it to the control room before them. Tatsumi himself might be able to make it there alone with no issues, but he wasn't sure if he can fend off the Danger Beasts and protect the other two at the same time. Not with this many of them lurking around.

The traps weren't making the way down any easier too. It was nearly impossible to deduce any pattern for them, as they were clearly placed at random. Tatsumi could only trust in his senses. The mechanical traps had a short delay between their activation and the time they actually took effect, so he was able to jump away in time, but that didn't extend to all traps. There was no way to detect a poisonous gas before you actually inhale it after all.

It was a good thing that Tatsumi could take some poison without any issues, but Kazuto and Asako weren't so lucky. Because of that, Tatsumi had to stay at the front to make sure the path is safe to use, relatively speaking. The mimics were no problem though, despite how many issues they've caused during the first expedition into the archive. They might be able to mask themselves as almost any object, but they can't mask their scent, and once Tatsumi picked up on it, he quickly learned to recognize and detect them before they become a problem. None that would be in their way would remain alive for long.

The way down was long and hard, but they eventually made it there, just barely before another wave of Danger Beasts attacked. Tatsumi all but shoved Kazuto and Asako inside before closing the entrance and dealing with the Beasts by himself. The two soldiers inside could hear nothing but the sound of flesh being ripped apart and screams of dying creatures as they sat there and tried to figure out how the mechanisms in the room work. "Damn… We owe our lives to him…" Asako spoke up. The pain was still driving her crazy, but she managed to get used to it just enough to speak up.

Kazuto turned away from the console. "I know…" He sighed. "But I'm afraid to be honest. You saw how he fights. He's wild, savage even. And yet somehow, he is also calm, calculating, precise… That's a really terrifying combination. And a dangerous one… I've only ever seen few people who can fight like that... Gene- Esdeath was among them..."

"Yeah, makes you wonder what made him like that… But still, he is the only reason why we made it this far. But that just brings a new question. Why didn't we see anyone from the other team? Not even any bodies..." Her eyes drifted back to the manual in her hands. "Damn, couldn't they have made it a bit clearer? Umm… Try to pull down that lever while pressing that button on the right." She felt her eyes being drawn to the ring on her hand. __Please be alright…__ Her hand closed into a fist as she bit her lip. __I can't lose you like this… Not now… Not when I'm…__

* * *

 **Song of the day: Beyond Unbroken - Overdose**


	7. Beasts and Monsters

"Phew! That sure took a while!" Leone clapped her hands together, the small shockwave this move created wiped her hands clean of blood that covered her white fur. She honestly would love to play with Honest a bit longer, but she had other things to do. It's not like he's going to run away this time. She made sure of it. "I'm gonna leave you here for some time, aright?" No answer came. "Oh come on, giving me the silent treatment won't make me stay, you know. I'll be back to play some more when I'm done clearing up in the archive. See ya!" She have him a final punch to the gut before leaving.

The man only puked out blood onto the floor. He couldn't speak or even cry out in pain because of a metal bar that was going through his throat. It almost completely clogged his air pipe, leaving just barely enough space for him to not suffocate to death. The women made sure he's completely immobilized too, even taking his regenerative capabilities into account.

She pushed more metal bars through every joint in his body, pinning him into the wall with his arms spread out to form a cross. His favorite execution method. One that he enjoyed watching on countless occasions. He loved to watch as the victims writhe in agony, as lives slowly leave them, first from their eyes, then from their hearts. It didn't matter who he ordered to die next. It could be a palace guard that happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. It could be a lowly peasant that never knew such cruelty is even possible. It could be a prisoner that outlived his uses. It could even be a noble. Those were his favorites. The way they tried to argue against their fate, how they despaired when their hope burned out.

He loved it. Until now.

Because now that his fat body was dragging him towards the floor, pulling on his pierced joints, now that he was hanging from the wall, covered in his own blood, piss and shit, now that he was shaking with fear, he finally understood what those nobles felt. To be thrown down from what seems to be the top of the world, into the dirtiest puddle known to man…

He honestly wished it could be different, that he didn't kill the previous Emperor and manipulated his son. He wished he just stayed a mere senator, with not enough influence to hold any real power. Looking back at those days, he could only despair at the thought that things could have been different. If he only didn't lust after power so much, his life could have been good now. If he only knew that this is where this path will take him, he never would have stepped on it. He never would have killed all these people, crushed all those dreams, raped all those women, eaten all those children… He would do none of it. He would have stayed as nobody, lived as nobody and died as nobody.

But it was too late now. Much too late. Now he was the overthrown monster that placed the whole nation under his thumb. He was a monster despised by millions. And there was not an ounce of mercy in the world left for him.

* * *

"Nope, that's not it either." Scratching his head, Kazuto started looking around the console again. There were just too many buttons for him to understand all of this. _Who the hell designed this? And what kind of head do you need to fit all of that into your head?_ He looked at the manual Asako was reading. That was probably the single thickest book he's ever seen. And all of it was dedicated to that one cursed console. "God, this is such a pain. I almost wish I was out there fighting the Danger Beasts with the kid."

"Same here, but I can't exactly stand at the moment, so kindly get back to…" She froze.

"What is it?" His eyes turned to her again. She suddenly sighed and dropped her head against her hand. The manual was opened on the first page. "Is something wrong?"

"Is there a red lever under the console?" She said, not lifting her head up. Confused, Kazuto took a look under the console as she said. And sure enough, there was a lever there. "Pull it. It for turning the entire system on and off…" He started at her, soon also resting his head on his hand. Unspoken anger radiated from his eyes. "I know!" She threw her arms into the air. "I don't read that many books, alright! I didn't expect this to be on the very first page!"

"But this was so obvious!" He yelled back. "Of course they needed an easy way to quickly switch it on and off, people used to be visiting this place every god damn day, damn it! That was probably the most basic procedure possible, of course it would be the first thing you should know about this whole damned to hell system!" He grabbed the lever with his hand and angrily pulled it towards himself. In a matter of seconds, both of them could hear gears turning all around them as the whole system went offline. "I never thought I'd say this but I'm glad you married a bookworm, at least you balance each other out… Hell, I never thought I'd say I'm glad you got married in the first place! I'm your damn father, why am I glad you're married!?"

"Oh, come on! We're not having this argument again! I'm not a little girl anymore, _private Kazuto_! I can do what I want, and marry who I want, whenever I want!"

"And somehow you still can be a dimwit in the strangest of ways, _sergeant_! You were lucky to meet that guy, at least he knows how to keep you in check!"

"So what the hell are you complaining about!? I love him, he loves me, why not get married or maybe even have a kid while we're at it!?"

"Who the hell gets married on the day before the biggest revolution in history!? Everyone's busy getting ready, praying, fucking or whatever, but you two? No! You need to get married and throw a god damn party too, because why the hell not!?"

"Because we could have died, damn it! I didn't want to pass on what could have been our last opportunity to do this!"

Kazuto was more than ready to continue the argument, but just as he was about to smash his head against the console and start yelling again, the entrance to the control room opened with a kick. "Would you two kindly stop this screeching!? It's getting on my nerves!" Tatsumi yelled at the two. He was covered in blood from head to toes, with only bits of skin visible. They saw one of the flying Danger Beasts come at him from behind, but before either of them could react, Tatsumi smacked it in the head without even turning around. The punch was so strong it ripped the Beast's head clean off form the rest of the body. "I'm trying to focus here!"

The boy then grabbed the rest of the body by the leg and smashed another Beast to death with it before closing the door again. Leaving the two stunned. "Um…" They were both at a loss for words. "So… Maybe we should… Clean our weapons?" Asako eventually spoke up. Kazuto only nodded and started to check his equipment while Asako cleaned her saber. She wasn't expecting to be using that anytime soon, but the weapon was still important to her. Though not nearly as much as the person that gave it to her.

* * *

Impressive, is not a word Leone would use, to describe the Imperial Archive. 'Fucking huge', seemed like a better description to her. "Woah…" She looked down at the dark hole that honestly seemed to lead to the very core of the planet. She could feel Tatsumi's scent very clearly, along with two other people she didn't recognize. _Must have gotten bored of waiting for me. Or didn't wait at all…_ She did have to admit she was taking her sweet time with Honest though. So she didn't really have any right to complain.

"Well, guess I should start going down. That's where the Beast's nest must be." Slowly, she started to make her way to the closest stair case. Which wasn't very close at all. At the very least each staircase that led lower was placed right after another, so as long as they were not broken, she could just move down without much issue. She soon started to encounter freshly killed Danger Beasts. No doubt Tatsumi's handiwork. Most of them were torn to shreds or smashed against the walls, but some had their throats slashed open or hearts crushed with a well-placed punch.

She smiled at that. It was good to know he hasn't forgotten all he's leaned in Night Raid just because of some Danger Beast fusion.

Still, it was rather disturbing to look at how brutally he disposed of the majority of the Beasts. It looked more like what she would leave behind her, rather than him. Tatsumi was usually more on Akame side of dealing with things. Prioritizing quick and clean kills above other things, unless he was trying to go for intimidation, which didn't work on most Danger Beasts. She was usually the one who left more mess to clean up. _I must be the worst nightmare of the world's janitors…_ She smiled to herself, stretching her hands.

It wasn't long before she heard something approaching. From above of all places. What she detected was a winged Danger Beast, akin to some of those she found dead all around her. It was too far away to surprise her now that she knew it was coming, but she decided to play dumb and keep on walking as the Beast descended, blissfully unaware that it was already on a crush course with death. _Hmmm…_ She pondered over her intent. The plan -if you can even call it that- was to let the thing get close enough for a brain-shattering introduction to her fist, but now that she actually thought it over, she realized that the way down is probably pretty damn long… And the thing just so happened to have wings...

As she was thinking, the Beast closed in and attacked, outstretching its claws towards her. It opened its beak-like muzzle to release a screeching sound, only for said sound to be suddenly silenced by Leone when she grabbed it by the throat. "Well… Guess you'll be my way down now, huh? Aren't you a lucky one~" She said with a grin. In a rush of panic at its surprise attack not being quite as surprising as it expected the Beast struggled to get away, only for all its efforts to prove fruitless against Leone's strength. Though it did start to behave surprisingly well, when she smacked its head with her fist.

In fact, after she started to stare it down, the primal rage in its eyes suddenly started to evaporate Honest's sick dreams. It stopped to struggle against her, as if a spell was suddenly cast on it. Soon enough Leone didn't even need to hold it still. It just nicely sat down on the ground and waited for her command like a nice little pet.

She stared at the Beast in surprise. _The hell did I just do?_ Her first thought was that since the Beasts from here must have been tamed before, then maybe they simply have their minds weaker and are receptive to accepting authority. That though was quickly disregarded though. If it was that easy to re-tame those beasts after they went wild, the Empire would have retaken the Archive ages ago. It had to be something else. _Maybe I'm just so damn hot I charmed it with my sheer beauty?_ She was just about to disregard the thought as small joke on her part, before it suddenly hit her.

It _was_ something about her that made the Danger Beast become this obedient. Ever since coming into possession of Lionel, she could feel far more in tune with animals, Danger Beasts included. She couldn't do things like taming them with her eyes or anything, but she was able to understand them on a deeper level them most. At times she felt like they were even her kin. Save for dogs. She always hated dogs.

Mutually.

It was hardly a stretch to think that after her recent transformation that ability would become strengthened along with everything else. And she doubted Lionel was known as The King of Beasts for no reason. "Hey you." She called out to the Beast, and as she expected, it turned its head towards her and happily awaited orders. She really couldn't not smile at that. "You're gonna take me to your nest, understood?"

It naturally didn't reply, but it did lower itself to allow her to take a seat on its back. She did just that, settling herself between Beast's feather covered wings. It was quite comfortable, she had to admit. _If_ _I_ _even lightly sense it thinking that I'm too heavy, I'll walk down instead. With its head_ _in my arms_ _._ As if institutionally feeling the threat, The Beast started to almost instantly started to fly up into the air. Up, not down as she expected it to. Quite fast too. "Hey! I said take me to your nest, not take me for a ride you stupid piece of-" She suddenly froze as the darkness above started to reveal... _something_. "Holy… What the _fuck_ is that!?"

* * *

"Shit…" The sound of heavy footsteps filled the corridor. Two man were running for their lives, or rather they tried to drag themselves to safety as a huge Danger Beast chased after them. One of the two was limping with one leg while the other was helping him move. The smell of blood was thick around them. Both were bleeding, but neither has allowed that to slow them down. They were both relatively the same age and build, with one having black hair while the other's were violet. Both had their faces equally twisted with fear of death. "Shit!" One of them screamed as he fell onto the ground, holding his leg.

"Akira!" Turning back, the other one rushed to his friend's help. Despite a mask on the wounded man's face, he could easily tell he's in a lot of pain. Not surprising knowing that he almost had his leg bitten off moments before. "Come on, get up! This thing is getting closer!" A loud noise rang trough the hallway. The gate they used to slow the Beast down has fallen already. Without thinking, he wrapped his friend's arm around his neck and tried to drag him ahead. He was moving at a snail's pace though. And the death was approaching fast.

And black-haired partner wasn't making it easy. He almost wasn't moving at all, only looking back. "Hey, Gab… Just leave me."

"Huh? The hell are you talking about!? We're almost at the exit!" He was doing his best to speed up, but the thundering steps of the Best behind them were approaching fast. Way too fast. There was no way he would make it in time, and worst of all he knew that all too well. But who the hell was he to just leave his friend to die in jaws of a monster alone? Who was he to just drop the years of friendship merely to get away with his life?

"Don't be an idiot. If you don't leave me both of us will die. I'm too wounded to run, you're the only one that can still make it, but you _have_ to leave me, damn it!" A terrifying roar reached their ears, but the man still had no intention of letting go of his friend. "Gab, damn it!" Summoning the last bits of his strength, Akira removed his arm off of his friend's shoulder and pushed him away as hard as he could. When Gab turned back to face him, Akira was already holding his rifle pointed at the ceiling, with a grenade loaded into the launcher attached to it.

He immediately rushed back to his friend. "Akira, don't!" Without hesitation, the man fired the explosive at the ceiling, effectively causing large boulders to block the path to him. Gab smashed his hand against the rocks "Akira!" He was getting ready to climb over the obstacle when another roar rang through the corridor. This one close. Close enough for Gab to know the Beast is on a straight path to them.

"For fucks sake, **run you fool!** " Finally, he caved in. With tears in his eyes he turned away from the boulder he was climbing and run off towards the exit as fast as he could, listening as his best friend makes his last stand against the Beast. "Name your first son after me!" Akira screamed as he pointed his weapon at the approaching Danger Beast. The sound of gunshots behind him was only sometimes interrupted with an explosion, and even though they were all directed at the Beast, each felt like it was fired straight at his back.

And them with one final explosion, it stopped. Only roars of the Beast could be heard as Gab run for his life, barely able to see what's in front of him. He could only see the light of the torch they've left at the entrance. Then, the debris that was blocking his view of the Beast was suddenly smashed away as said Beast simply run through it like an unstoppable battering ram. It was huge, barely able to fit into the corridor. It was crouching down a bit to fit in, but it was somehow still running fast, straight towards him. It's thick brown natural armor was covered in fresh blood of his fallen comrades, and so were its numerous teeth.

It had long arms, that almost reached all the way to the ground, with large claws at the end of each of its six fingers. It spotted him almost immediately, locking onto him with its blazing red eyes and rushing forward with an angry roar.

He was running like he never thought possible before, but he was still too slow compared to the giant monster behind him. He threw his rifle away, but it did nothing to put more distance between them. It honestly seemed to him like Akira's sacrifice was about to go to waste when he finally managed to get back into the main chamber of the Imperial Archive's lowest level. Wasting no time, he threw his entire weight against a lever at the side of the entrance and right before the Beast crossed past it as well, the metal gate fell down right in front of its face.

Panting hard, Gab forced himself to get up. The Beast might have been locked away from him for now, kicking at the gate and angrily roaring at him, but it was only a matter of time before it broke through that gate as well. He had to keep moving. He had to get away from here. Otherwise his best friend's death would mean nothing. In his thoughts he cursed the people leading the whole thing. They should have listened to Asako when she said the place is too dangerous for their little group. That they need to wait for reinforcements before continuing on. The death toll wouldn't be so high if they did.

And now it went up by one.

All he could really do now is make sure it won't go up again, so without waiting, he immediately made his way to the closest staircase right after taking the torch they've left there into his hand. The terrain under him was uneven. This floor was never finished after all, from what he gathered the Archive was meant to be continuously expanded before the Danger Beasts broke out. The hallway he just got out of was an unfinished storage room that was left open and became a nest for that monster. When he and Akira broke off from the rest of the group, they thought it might serve as a good place to barricade themselves in before help arrives, but… Well, that didn't go so well.

 _I hope_ _the others were able to make their way out safely at least._ He thought as he started to make his way up the stairs. It was going to be a pain to climb all the way there, and if any of the other Beasts were to attack him he was left with no weapons to defend himself with. Not to mention he had no food and water supplies left. _Maybe it's still a better option to just find a place to hide and wait for someone to come down here?_ It did seem like that was the best he could do to survive. Assuming anyone would come down here in the first place.

Still busy looking at his options, he reached the top of the stairs. And he immediately froze in place.

The whole area in front of the staircase was littered with bodies. Fresh ones. Bodies of people that were supposed to be safe outside of this cursed place. _Why are they here!? We weren't even at the control room when that group of Danger Beasts separated me and Akira from the others. So why the hell are they all the way down here!?_ He quickly started to look through the bodies. He didn't see Asako's dog-tag on any of the bodies, so at least there was hope she was alive. Just like all the remains he saw on the way down here, those here were all beheaded. He didn't know why are Danger Beasts only gathering the heads of their victims without even touching the rest of them, or where they take those heads to begin with, but he honestly hoped to never find out.

 _Damn idiots. They must have went down here again after retreating. As if the first time was no proof that we can't handle this place on our own._ Still, he gathered all of the dog-tags from the dead soldiers' bodies. He couldn't take them from the researchers as they wore none. It was right after he took the last one of the tags that he saw another light from afar. He blinked at that. _Could it be that there is already another group sent down here?_ He was surrounded by complete darkness, but he was sure that whoever that is, is only a level up from where he's standing.

Without thinking, he started to wave his torch left and right, happy to receive the same signal from those above him. With a smile on his face, the man rushed forward to another stair case. Smile that quickly disappeared from his face as another wave of guilt washed over him. Akira was dead. The one person that was his friend ever since they were just kids in this god forsaken world. He knew he couldn't do anything to save him, but it did nothing to stop his thoughts and 'what if's that filled his head. He always said he would jump into fire for him, that he was willing to give up his life for the man that saved him from the life of slavery all those years ago.

And when it came to it, he just didn't.

If Akira didn't save him on that day, he would have lived his life as some fat noble's servant, and that is assuming he would even be lucky enough to not participate in one of those sick games that the nobles were organizing for entertainment. As far as Gab was concerned, from that point on Akira could have very well been his master. He was willing to do anything for him. Or at least, so he thought.

So what if he couldn't do anything to save him? He could have still stayed there with him. Instead, he run away and left him to die alone in this dark, forgotten hole in the ground. Before he knew it, he started to slow down, eventually halting altogether. _What's the point? I should have died there with him._ _And instead I'm now getting rescued while he ended up as_ _a damn snack_ _for a Danger Beast. Heh... And here I thought the revolution will_ _make_ _things a better for all of us...What a joke..._ He fell against the wall and slumped down onto the floor. Torch fell down as hot tears started to run down his cheeks again. "Damn it…" The prospect of getting saved suddenly didn't seem so nice to him anymore.

What the hell was he going to say to the others? What was he suppose to tell Asako? He had just left her husband to get eaten, what could he possibly say to make that better.

He could hear the steps approaching. Surprisingly only two sets. Seems like the rescue group didn't have a calm trip either... "Gab? Is that you?" A familiar voice suddenly snapped beck to reality. Even without looking he could say that this was Asako's father, Kazuto. One of the people he was secretly hoping to not see for as long as possible. The old man immediately knelt over him and started checking his injuries. He had a lot of them, but hey were nothing too serious. Just some bruises and cuts here and there. At most he broke a rib. "Damn it boy, I was thinking you're dead. Where's Akira? Did he..." The man only now noticed the tears in Gab's eyes.

"I'm sorry... He's..." More tears stared to fall. "He's dead... I-I left him there... I'm so sorry..." He felt Kazuto slowly placing his hand on his shoulder, but didn't look up at him. The old man stayed silent for a while, silently gathering his thoughts before finally letting out a long sigh.

"You're not to blame kid. I don't know what happened down there, but its a miracle that you even made it in one piece. Asako will understand."

Gab really did want to believe that, but he couldn't. He still remembered how these two were. How they met. How they grew closer. How happy they were together. And most of all, the smiles on their faces when they finally got married. And how long did that marriage last? Two days? How was she suppose to forgive him for leaving the man she loved more then anything else in the world?

How was he suppose to forgive himself?

Suddenly the second man Kazuto was with spoke up. "Don't worry." He felt him place his hand on his shoulder. But his hand felt strange. Something was off about it. He looked up at the man, only to cringe in fear at what he saw. Two red orbs were staring down at him, both with a cross shaped slit on them. There were bits of fresh blood on his face, and he smelled as if he just took a bath in Danger Beast guts. His small smile showed him bits of his teeth. Teeth that looked sharp enough for him to rip him to pieces with ease. There was one thing that quickly overwhelmed all of that though. The pure, almost childish kindness that radiated from his eyes and smile. It was almost enough to completely calm him down on its own.

"I know how you feel. I've lost a lot of friends too. Some of them I could have saved if I was only stronger back then..." He could swear he saw a tear rolling in his eyes. "I'll never forget any of them, and you won't forget your friend either, but don't let this drag you down for too long. I'm sure he would want you to be happy." With those simple words spoken, the man got up, letting go of his shoulder. "We have to destroy the Danger Beast nest. Do you know where it is?"

"Aren't you moving to that too fast? We should let him calm down and rest first." Kazuto spoke up.

"I know, but we need to get this done as fast as possible. If another wave of Beasts attacks he might not make it."

"I know but-"

"It's fine Mr. Kazuto, really. I'll be fine... Somewhat." With his arm, he wiped the tears from his face as he got up again. "There is no nest down here." Both of the others stared at him in shock. "It just can't be here. The Archive was never meant to be finished. They just kept on building it as the time went on, adding floor after floor whenever they needed to. The floor we're on was never even finished."

"The nest's not here? Then where _is_ it then? We came here all the way from the top floor and we saw nothing that could be a nest!" He started rubbing the back of his head. "Tatsumi, you've got any ideas?"

Looking back at him, he saw the boy staring up at the darkness that only his eyes could pierce. "Its pretty obvious right? If the nest is not down here, and it's not on any of the levels we passed, then there is only one place left, right? The nest is at the very top."

* * *

 **Song of the day: Starset - Monster**


	8. Flesh and Acid

Leone saw may things in her life, even if she was only 25. Dangerous monsters, horrible experiments, disgusting murders and even more disgusting places… But what she was looking at now… Seemed like a combination of all four. Attached to the ceiling of the Archive was a giant… Fleshy… Blob-thingy that seemed to somehow be alive. Or at the very least, it was moving. It had giant tentacles attached to the ceiling it hung from, each as thick as a large building. She could see no mouth, or even eyes on the creature, but she knew it could feel that she was here. And it was not happy with her presence.

To say Leone was deeply disturbed by it was a grave understatement. It was as if to claim Honest was an innocent puppy, or that Esdeath was a peace-angel. And the reason was simple. This thing was almost entirely made from human flesh. Looking at the size of the damn thing there needed to be tens of thousands of people used to create it. _I guess the Empire was capable of cruelty even long before Honest…_ As her new pet continued to approach, she started to wonder why she didn't see this monstrosity before. Her eyes allow her to see in the dark after all, at least to a large extent, and yet she saw nothing but an empty ceiling before now. _Maybe it's some sort of illusion? Smoke and mirrors or some other shit?_ Whatever it was, she had no way of knowing and other things to worry about instead.

Namely, the fact that she noticed small cocoons all over the underside of the blob. Some still growing out of the mass of flesh. Before long, some of them started to open, revealing more of the flying Danger Beasts that looked exactly like the one she was riding. As soon as they were out of their cocoons, they shook themselves clean of some green goo they were covered in and flew towards her. This thing needed to be destroyed, and Leone knew it, but it sure as hell wasn't going to go down without a fight.

As soon as the first of the new hostiles reached her, she forced her Beast to fly lower. The other Best's claws caught nothing but air and with said claws in Leone's range, she grabbed one of them and pulled the thing down, squeezing the claw so hard she broke its bone. She then did the same to the wing, making the Beast fall down into the abyss below. It wasn't long before she realized she's not exactly in the best position possible. She was basically god knows how far above the bottom of the Archive with only one fragile Danger Beast to keep her up in the air. If said Beast was taken down and there were no others in range for her to grab, she was pretty much screwed and on a one-way trip down towards oblivion.

She needed to make sure that won't happen. The other Beasts were already in hot pursuit after her, and neither one of them was carrying anybody on their back to slow them down. It was only a matter of time before they catch up. And to make things worse, there were more of them coming out of their cocoons with each second. _This is bad. Very bad. The fuck am I supposed to do!?_ Well, as she always liked to say, punching things is usually the best solution for most situations. And what better way is there to getting rid of a pursuers then to punch them really hard?

The tactic sounded great to her. She mentally patted herself on the back and immediately made her Beast turn around and charge straight at the swarm that was sitting on their tail. "Come on! Fly faster!" She had her foot on its head as she got her arms ready for some punching. If it had any protests it didn't try to voice them. There was a wide grin on Leone's face. The kind that would put fear into minds of most opponents. She could feel her arms itching for some fight, even more so then they usually did. Probably because of how excited she was about to finally give her new body a proper test run. And once she saw what it is capable of, she just couldn't help but grin even more.

The first Beast that was on her way had its head completely obliterated. Bits of flesh and bone exploded onto other Beasts nearby, hitting them with so much force that some were downright knocked out of the air. That included her Beast of course, but it quickly managed to correct it's course like other ones did. "Keep flying forward!" She ordered it before jumping forward into the swarm she was facing. Her claws tore into the first Beast that got into range, piercing it's flesh. She opened its throat before jumping towards another one so fast that blood didn't even start to pour out of the first one.

She landed on its back, smashing her fist into Beast that was flying right above it and doing the same to the one she was standing on. As she was falling, she grabbed one by the wing and used it to propel herself back up, slashing her claws at anything that was in her range before landing on another of the Beasts. She advanced forward like that, clearing path for her own Beast until she was at the end of the swarm. With one final jump, that was strong enough to shatter a wing of a Beast she landed on before, she landed on the back of her own Beast. "Fuck yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

Looking back, she noticed that the whole swarm was in a disarray after her stunt. She needed to use that opening to get in closer to the damned blob. "Come on Gorge! Go to that thing as fast as you can!" The Beats listened and obediently stared to flop it's wings as fast as it could. "I'm gonna call you Gorge, is that alright?" It Shrieked, seemingly accepting it's new name. "Alright, now gun it!" There were still more Beasts coming from the blob but they were not fast enough to stop them. Soon enough, Leone jumped onto the surface of the blob and grabbed onto it with her claws. "Shit! That thing smells!" She turned to Gorge. "Hide somewhere and wait for my signal. You'll pick me up."

It shrieked again before flying away. The other Beasts seemed to completely ignore him, immediately flying straight at her with their claws ready to pull her away from what she assumed was their mother. Or whatever the hell this thing was meant to be besides being wrecked by her. Their efforts were for nothing though. As soon as they were close enough, she pulled herself up so hard she was almost by the ceiling when her momentum run out while the stupid things just smashed their sharp claws into the flesh of the blob, effectively getting themselves stuck in it. All their attempts to free themselves proved to be fruitless as the flesh completely engulfed their claws and held them there.

Not all of them got stuck like that though, and once they located her again the pursuit started again. They were far away from her though. Far enough for her to do some thinking at least.

She knew she has to get rid of that blob but the exact method of doing it was a problem. Mainly because of just how huge it was. The diameter of the Archive was counted in kilometers, and the damned thing was taking half of the ceiling at least. The way she saw it, there were only two ways to get the job done without having Akame here to just stab it dead with her sword. Option A, was to get rid of the tentacles that it was using to keep itself attached to the ceiling. Without them it would just fall and get splashed on the bottom floor. Option B was to get inside of it and kill it from the inside. It must have had something like a heart, she could hear that there was blood flowing under the surface and slashing some of it open revealed that she was right. There was technically a third option which was breaking the ceiling, but she couldn't do that. Who knows what might happen to the whole Archive if she just decides to smash it to pieces from the top. Najenda sure as hell wouldn't be happy if she broke something important, so that left her with only two other options.

Problem was, that she had no idea how to get either of them done.

The tentacles were huge in their own right and probably very strong seeing that they can hold all of that mass above ground and finding anything inside of all this was going to be worse than searching for a needle in a pile of hay. With the needle you can always just burn the hay down and search what's left after that, what was she supposed to burn here? And that is without mentioning the problem of getting inside in the first place.

As she was thinking, the Beasts have caught up to her. This time they were trying to surround her from all sides, but that wasn't going to work. All Leone did to counter that was to let go of the lump of flesh she was holding and smashing her foot into any Beast that was on her way down. Deciding it was better idea to try taking care of the tentacles first, she grabbed one of the Beasts that was on her way and forced it's wings open with her arms. It didn't seem like she was going to have any luck 'seducing' any of the Bests being this close to the blob so she didn't bother with it.

She glided towards the closest tentacle, jumping on top of it right after snapping the Beast's neck. For her fist strike, she used the momentum her fall generated in order to increase the force of the attack. She smashed both of her hands against the fleshy surface, splashing the softer tissue around the area. It fell onto some of the Beasts that were close to her, sticking to them and making each lose control over their trajectory. As a result, the ones that were unable to shake the tissue off themselves in time, smashed right into the tentacle's side, breaking their necks and wings. The ones that did manage to save themselves, were met with Leone's fists while the rest seemed smart enough to not approach her without a plan and simply circled around her.

Looking at her own handiwork, Leone saw that instead of soft flesh, she was now standing on that seemed like a muscle. A very strong muscle.

All tentacles must have been made from that. They were probably the only places on the whole blob that were not protected with bone, as she could feel it when she was holding onto it before. And that meant this was probably her best and possibly only entrance point if she were to decide to search for something to break inside of it. And even if there was no way for her to get inside through the tentacle, she still could dig through the muscle until she can rip it off. _Either way, it's gonna take me a while… Guess I'll better get to it._ She dug her hand into the muscle tissue and ripped out as much as she could, taking out a massive chunk of flesh that she immediately threw at the Beasts flying above her. _I wonder if Tatsumi will come and help me?_

* * *

Loud thuds started to suddenly ring throughout the bottom level as dead Danger Beasts begun falling down and splattering against the surface. Tatsumi quickly guessed that is must have been Leone's doing. _She probably found the actual nest and got around to smashing it. I must g_ _et up_ _there and help her._ He turned towards the two man behind him. Kazuto was still tending to Gab's wounds, so it was going to take a while before they can move out. And even when they do, there was no way he would get to Leone anytime soon with them tagging along. He couldn't just go on ahead and leave them alone behind regardless of whether they were going to slow him down or not. That was just not how he did things.

Leone will have to deal with this on her own for now, but he wasn't really concerned for her safety. She was more than capable of handling herself, and the sheer amount of Beasts that continue to fall down is a testament to that.

Besides, he had other things to deal with. Ignoring the thuds made by the falling Beasts, there was one other source of noise that he's become aware of soon before meeting with Gab. There was one Beast left on this level that was still alive. And it was unlike the ones they've been fighting along the way. Those ones were cannon fodder to him, posing no real danger and amounting to little more then an annoyance. But this one… It was an enemy he couldn't allow himself to underestimate. He could hear its roars as it continuously smashed against the metal gate that kept it away. And as tough as those gates were, it was only a matter of time before they fall.

He had to take care of it and fast. Escaping won't do a thing, the Beast is already onto them and the two soldiers won't be able to escape considering it is bound to follow them even if they are high up. Gab and Kazuto won't be able to outrun it, and even if he were to carry them, all he would do is delay the innevadible fight, possibly even putting himself at a disadvantage. "I'm going to take care of the Beast that attacked Mr. Gab." He said as he turned to face them. Gab didn't seem to think highly of the idea. "I'll keep it busy while you two get back to the top as fast as you can. My friend is already dealing with the nest, help her if you can, if not, just take Asako and get out of here." He doubted they would manage to even reach Asako by the time this fight will be over, let alone to the top of the Archive. All he needed is to get them to leave the area and not get in the way.

"Now wait just a second!" Gab grabbed Tatsumi's shoulder just as he was about to leave. "You can't fight this thing! It's too strong for anyone to take it on, you're just going to die like Akira did!"

The boy pushed his hand away. "Don't worry, I can handle it. If you two get out, get to General Najenda and tell her to send more people to secure this place. We should be able to wrap thing up here by then." He looked up. Bodies continued to fall like raindrops, covering the bottom floor with splattered guts… _Leone must be having a blast up there…_ Before Gab could protest more, Kazuto stopped him and started to drag with him. The old man knew well enough what Tatsumi is capable of and that he knows what he's doing. He also needed to deliver the bad news to Asako… _Hopefully she has already accepted Akira's death as a possibility._

"Come on Gab, we can trust this kid. He's better than a platoon of commandos, he can handle himself, we'd just be in his way." Tatsumi only nodded at that and jumped over the railing. He landed on the stone floor, which was now getting slippery under his feet thanks to blood and guts left by all of the fallen Beasts. This place was soon going to become an arena for Tatsumi's first real fight since his merging with Tyrant, the first test for his abilities. By his estimates, his opponent was a Super-Class Danger Beast and an ancient one at that. A worthy pray for any hunter.

It knew he was after it. Just as Tatsumi was getting ready to rush forward, the Beast roared at him and finally brought the gate down with a final blow. Wasting no time, it rushed straight at him, recognizing him as a threat that needed to be dealt with first before it goes after the others. _Good. You're all mine now._ Tatsumi did the same, rushing straight at his opponent as fast as he could. Before long they were both only around 50 meters apart and Tatsumi was finally able to properly judge exactly what his foe is.

It had an appearance akin to that of an Earth Dragon, but its arms were not suited for digging. It also wasn't quite as large in size, only reaching around 20 meters in height. It's arms were longer than that though, forcing it to bend them slightly to not drag them on the ground. Both arms were ended with a large hand that could easily smash a large cart into pieces with one strike, with three fingers on them, each with a giant claw on it. He will have to watch out for those. They seemed to be extremely nimble and strong at the same time judging by how the muscles under the layer of skin that covered them moved. A first degree meeting with them may be rather painful, even for Tatsumi. It had a flat muzzle, not meant to attack but only to process food, even though it's teeth were clearly sharp. This was not going to be a problem.

He knew what the Beast was, or at least what it was called. A Vancor. Formerly one of the most common predators seen in the areas formerly belonging to southern tribes, now a forgotten relic of the past, hunted into extinction like many Danger Beasts of its kind. The similarity to Earth Dragons is not accidental as both species derive from a common ancestor.

With half of the remaining distance crossed in a single step, Tatsumi halted in place just before the Beast smashed it's arm against the ground. Seeing its attack fail, it immediately swiped it's other hand over the floor, throwing rocks into the air and forcing Tatsumi to evade. He jumped up, only for the Beast to attempt grabbing him. That move was anticipated though. The boy grabbed onto the Beast's finger just before it reached him, using it to propel himself towards the attacker's head. He gave it a strong punch to the jaw, but only made it stagger for a second. By the time Tatsumi was back on the ground, it was already about to stomp him under its massive leg.

He jumped away, only to engulf the Beast in flames. The red flames touched its brown scales, wrapping around them like vines. It quickly turned out to be a pointless exercise though. The moment he stopped throwing fire at it, forced to dodge Beast's arm again instead, Tatsumi noticed that his attack did nothing against the Beast's natural armor. Its scales shined with the heat, but were left completely undamaged, just is the Beast itself.

It probably would die from overheating if he kept this up for long enough, but his opponent was not going to make it easy for him. Just as he thought, it's arms were extremely nimble and hard to maneuver around. It could easily keep him at a distance and not allow him to overuse his flames or even get a good punch in. It was keeping him at an arm's length as after the first punch it must have realized that Tatsumi's strength was a large threat and decided to wait for him to get tired before focusing on pressing an offense. The thing was smart, he had to give it that, but naive at the same time. Jumping around was not going to tire him out as quickly as it probably would have liked and he still got enough opportunities to throw some punches and actually make them connect to kill it sooner or later.

However, knowing what the Beast is waiting for meant that Tatsumi could use it to his advantage. He intentionally started to gradually slow down, make his attacks feel weaker, make small mistakes, all to give the Beast a false idea that it's winning. It wasn't long before Tatsumi seemingly got smacked with the Beast's hand and was thrown away. He wasn't actually hit, he simply allowed the Beast to push him away and made it look as if it scored a hit. The thing naturally fall for it, deciding that it's finally time to attack.

It rushed at him with its arms up in the air, ready to smash him into a puddle. Tatsumi could almost see some form of smuggish grin in its expression a moment before it's arms connected with the ground, only for it to disappear completely with Tatsumi suddenly rushing forward at full speed and jumping onto its head. He forced the Beast's mouth open and ignoring the less then pleasant smell that reached his nose, got ready to breath fire into it. Its scales and thick skin may be protecting it on the outside, but the inside was a different story. He could easily melt if from the inside or burn it's lungs so it suffocates, but… Neither of that happened.

He suddenly felt a strange smell coming from inside of the Beast's mouth that was not its bad breath. _It smells like…Acid!_ With that realization, he quickly jumped away from it, just in time to avoid having his face burned away as the Beast spat the acidic liquid at him from a gland inside its mouth that he only now noticed. "Gh!" Despite his seemingly successful dodge, some of the acid still reached him. When he landed back on the ground, he grabbed onto his left arm as the substance burned it, releasing smoke into the air. It went straight through his arm, stopping on the ground and leaving it untouched. Looking back at his arm he saw that his both scales and bones were left untouched despite the acid touching them.

It seemed like the acid only affects living tissue… This must be why it didn't try to burn the metal gate with it.

Regardless, now that he was at an actual disadvantage, the Beast pressed it's attack once again, successfully forcing Tatsumi to go on the defense and commit to it for now. As nimble and agile as its arms were though, Tatsumi was faster than they were. Even with his arm disabled and struggling against the pain he was more than fast enough to get away from anything the Beast threw at him. He only needed to do this until his arm heals all the way. Once that happens, he will be able to counterattack again.

Still, the wait was a pain, and his enemy wasn't making it more bearable. He actually found himself struggling to keep the Beast from getting him more than once. With its acid reveled, it gladly continued to shoot it towards Tatsumi and cover the floor with to prevent him from moving too much. However, he soon learned that he can counter that tactic simply by burning the acid with his flames and turning it into gas. This was not a perfect solution though. having hot, poisonous has flying towards your face was not something he could just tank with no repercussions.

The Beast tried to obstruct his vision by smashing it's arms all over the ground to make the dust from the broken floor lift into the air. It only managed to surprise him though, not even when it grabbed the rubble from the ground and tried to throw it at him did it manage to hit him. And he was starting to feel his arm again, meaning it was healed enough to be used again. The Beast naturally didn't need to know that. Again, Tatsumi started to purposefully hold himself back more and more, this time appearing even more convincing than before. He eventually allowed his opponent to slam him into the floor. And just like before, it caught the bait. Thinking his lack of movement meant its victory, it moved in to grab him. He was soon hanging in the air, held in the Vancor's claws, right above its open mouth.

And then, just as the Beast was about to claim its reward, Tatsumi filled its stomach with flames instead of himself. In just a fraction of a second he reopened his eyes and breathed out fire so hot the inside of Vancor's mouth melted almost instantly. It threw him away just as quickly, but the damage was already done, and as Tatsumi gracefully landed back on the ground, he was met with a sight of his opponent slowly suffocating to death. It was clawing at its throat, trying to make air reach its lungs again, unaware that they are nothing but charred rocks now. It was almost pitiful to look at. With a single dash, Tatsumi moved right next to its chest and smashed his fist into it. The shockwave this created has shattered the Beast's lungs into pieces that then started to cut into other organs, including its heart.

From then all that was left was to watch as the mighty Beast falls onto the ground, not even capable of drawing its final breath.

Tatsumi's sigh rang through the empty area around him. "That sure was a pain… To think that the Empire has things like that guarding every single of those storage chambers… How the hell were they kept fed all this time?" It's not like those Beasts could just go and hunt on their own for those thousands of years they've spent down here. _Perhaps some sort of_ _genetic_ _modification?_ That was the only option that seemed viable to him, even though he himself couldn't comprehend how something like that would work.

He didn't let that bother him though. There was something else that deserved his attention right now. Namely, the Vancor's mouth and what its covered in. It was blood obviously, but there was something strange about it, but the boy couldn't put his finger on it until he came over to the Beast and took a closer look. That's when he realized what was wrong.

It was not fresh.

* * *

"Would you fuckers just let me work in peace!?" Leone screamed in anger, smacking yet another Beast in the face so hard it flew right into the wall that was nearly a kilometer away with a force of a cannonball, taking a few of its friend's with it. _You would think they'd learn by now…_ Those things apparently had little to no sense of self-preservation, which did make sense to her as she was very much aware she's dealing with clones, even though it pissed her off to no end. Just when she thought she managed to scare them off, it turned out they were simply waiting until more of them comes. They tried to swarm her again, obviously with no effects, but with enough dedication that it forced her to temporarily stop digging into that damn tentacle.

Something she was honestly getting tired of by now. Not physically, but rather mentally. She may have been going at it pretty fast, but it was such a monotone job she actually wished she was fighting two Esdeaths instead. So as one might imagine, the happiness she felt when she finally reached something was immense, to say the least. And then it immediately evaporated into thin air as she felt what was possibly the worst smell she has felt in her entire life. It was worse than smelling a dead rat that has spent a month in some hobo's shit filled pants after being dipped in Daundaun's guts. _Boy, do those things smell..._

It took her a good while before she managed to get used to the smell enough to even look at what she had actually reached.

What she saw, was a hole inside of the tentacle, easily large enough for her to move in it without having to even lower her head. She almost immediately jumped down into it, struggling to not throw up. The Beasts on the outside couldn't get inside through the little hole she made, but that didn't mean there was no danger waiting for her here regardless. Or that they didn't try. Once she turned towards the hole, she saw one of them trying to squeeze inside, naturally getting stuck in the process. However, that bit, amusing as it was, quickly escaped her mind. A moment after her feet touched the fleshy 'floor', she was jumped by another type of Danger Beast. She saw corpses of those too when she was admiring Tatsumi's handiwork before, and with the same ease he appeared to be have had with them, she killed this one too, halting its attack with one hand and turning its head 180 degrees, thus snapping its neck.

Others quickly started to come out of the cocoons that hung on the walls, but for the most part she ignored them as she run forward as fast as she could. Whatever was controlling this place must have been at the end of that tunnel, and she was going to turn it into mush for all the problems it caused her. She had no time for the small fry.

" _Come..._ " She suddenly halted. The Beasts did not attack her, only stood around her. " _Come… Join us…_ " The Beasts suddenly moved aside, forming a path forward for her to follow.

Leone only blinked at that. "You gotta be fucking kidding me…"

* * *

 _ **Important Notice**_

 **I've set up a survey for what story people want me to make next. The link to it is on my account, along with a short description of all story concepts I came up with so far.**

 **I'd appreciate if you folks voted, it will help me decide what to write after I'm done with this story (which is not close yet, just so you know).**

 **Story of the day: Shinedown – Devour**


	9. Mind and Body

"…For 21 accounts of rape, 356 indirect murders, 73 direct murders, enslavement of 12 people; 3 of whom are below the age of 15, bribery, participation in organized crime and directly supporting the former government by both financial and political means, I hereby sentence Jurio Tonningun to death by beheading." The man in question was brought onto the wooden platform as the speaker finished reading the list. Or rather, he was dragged onto it kicking and screaming into the muzzle that was placed in his mouth. The crowd that was gathered around the execution site immediately started to throw garbage at him. Tomatoes, rocks, empty cans, rotten eggs and such quickly started to hit the fat man's face as he was forcefully placed under the guillotine's blade, crying all the while and hoping that this will somehow overturn his fate. He hoped for the impossible though. "The sentence shall be carried out now. May hell be light upon you."

With a single move of his hand, the executioner pulled the lever at the base of guillotine, bringing the blade down onto the man's neck. His head fell right into a previously prepared crate fight before being unceremoniously picked up by the hair, stabbed onto a metal pike and displayed for the cheering crowd to see. "Now, we will move on to another trail. For numerous war crimes against the people of Norther Tribes that include: rape and murder of civilians, torture of captured soldiers, use of illegal substances to enhance performance of his troops and many more, along with crimes of murder and rape committed against 24 women and 492 boys and girls under the age of 15 and finally, willingly providing military and political support to the former government, I sentence Captain Frono of the Third Imperial Legion to death by beheading." Another man was moved onto the platform, this time not trying to fight his fate. Mostly because he simply had no fight left in him anymore after what he want through while being held in prison. He obediently stepped under the chopping block and waited for the blade to fall. "Sentence will be carried out immediately. May hell be light upon you."

A puff of smoke went past a frame of a window in one of the houses surrounding the area just as Frono's head was separated from his body. Another person- this time an elderly women guilty of human experimentation was led to the platform moments later, but Najenda didn't stay around to watch. She knew exactly what the fate of every single person that waited in line was and why they were going to meet it. She's the one who signed execution orders for all of them after all. Not necessarily after the Empire's downfall, many were on Night Raid's target list for some time now and simply were lucky enough to not die before now.

She put down her already finished cigarette and threw it out of the window before closing it. Turning back she was met with the same room she's spent in most of her time ever since Tatsumi and Leone left for the Imperial Archive. The same room where Akame lied on the bed, occasionally groaning in pain and crying in her sleep. Sometimes she even called out names. All belonged to members of Night Raid and the Elite Seven. 'Blaut', 'Sheele', 'Cornelia', 'Mine', 'Green', 'Chelsea', 'Kurome' and all the others. Even her name came up a few times. Not really surprising, those are the only people she really knew in her life. What was surprising, though not much, was how often she called out to Tatsumi.

It was clear to the women that there was something brewing between these two, but she never saw any clear signs of that before merely half a day back from now. The way Tatsumi looked at her, how he reacted every time he saw even a glimmer of pain on her face… There was no way that they were just friends and fellow warriors for each other now. Or at least she wasn't that for Tatsumi any more.

Not that she minded one bit. They could use some peace after all of this is over. Assuming Akame gets to live to see it end in the first place. At times it was hard to even look at her, she couldn't even begin to comprehend what it was like to actually be going through this. And to make it worse, she couldn't do a thing to help her no matter how much she wanted to. Though she wouldn't admit that to anyone, Akame was the closest thing she had to a daughter and she would not be surprised to find out that the girl herself thinks of her as something akin to a mother. It definitely seemed like that at times, especially in the period shortly after she joined the Revolutionary Army. She did gradually start to get less and less clingy, especially as more and more people started to join Night Raid, but it was still occasionally possible to see her getting somewhat dependable on her.

Najenda herself had at first thought this was simply her looking for some familiarity in the new situation. She was after all raised in the wild with by a murderer that forced her and six other kids to call him their father. It made sense to her at the time to look for some sort of parent figure and at first might have even been true, after all Najenda while hardly a motherly type was the one taking care of her ever since then. The thing is though... She really did come to care for the girl. Before she knew it, taking care of her became less and less about keeping a sword sharp, and more about giving it a sheath to rest in, about keeping it clean and well oiled...

Seeing that she no longer has any cigarettes on her, Nejenda sat down on the chair next to Akame's bed with a sigh. Part of her wanted to go get more, but for some reason she felt almost chained to the small room. She could always get the doctor to bring her more when she comes here again. Slowly, she reached her hand out to Akame's and squeezed it lightly. "You kids just won't let go of me, will you..." The girl's hand twitched at the touch. Najenda only sighed as her head rested on her other hand. Akame's hand twitched again. The crowd outside could be heard again as its angry roar met yet another poor bastard led to the guillotine. If her memory served her right, this one was a woman who enjoyed cannibalizing man she previously tortured and raped. But again, Najenda didn't feel like watching the execution.

She was more concerned with Akame's hand twitching again. This marked the third time it happened since she grabbed her hand, and as far as she knew, Akame was supposed to be almost completely numb to her environment. Having a bad feeling about this, Najenda got up from her chair and moved her head over Akame's, watching carefully for any changes in her expression. At first it didn't seem like anything was out of the ordinary, but before long, she noticed her eyebrows twitch as her breath suddenly picked up.

Girl's face started to slowly move from side to side as her chest continued to rapidly rise and fall and then, suddenly her eyes snapped wide open. Before Najenda could react to the situation, Akame's whole body twisted around as her muscles tensed up. The room was immediately filled with bone-chilling screams of agony that quickly made the noise from outside nothing but quiet whispers. "Dman it!" Najenda was quick to push Akame's body down to the bed but she wasn't making it easy. As her screams continued to ring in General's ears, girl's arms whole body was moving so violently and with such strength that she was almost pushed off the bed by her. Even her metallic arm, though stronger then her real one was barely able to keep up with girl's freakish strength. And by the time she did manage to pin her down, Akame's eyes were oozing some black liquid out of them, quickly covering girl's whole vision. "Akame, calm down!" Her words fell on deaf ears. Her whole body was overtaken with pain to the point where she couldn't even feel it, let alone notice anything that's going on beyond it.

Najenda soon felt Akame's nails dig into her arm just as she started to puke out that black liquid out of her mouth, temporarily stopping her screams as she started to gag on it. It didn't seem like that attack was going to end soon, but Najenda couldn't move. In the state she was in, Akame could hurt herself simply by trashing around, or even actively attempt to to do it if the attack calms down a bit. She needed to wait for the doctor to arrive. He was bound to hear those screams from his room. "Please!" A word made it out between the screams. "Help me!" Just as this plead reached Najenda's ears, doctor stormed into the room with a syringe already in his hand, ready to be used. "It hurts! It hurts!" Her screams only grew louder once the needle pierced skin on her arm. "Make it stop! Please!"

The drug started to kick in fast. Her muscles started to slowly lose strength as her screams turned into weak whimpers. The black thing oozing out of her eyes started to give way, slowly revealing the blank, broken stare it hid until now. "Listen Akame... Listen to me..." General grabbed girl's head in both hands, forcing her eyes to focus on her as she moved her face right over hers. "Tatsumi is on the way. He _will_ help you. Don't give up hope yet, you just need to wait a little longer… Please, I don't want to lose you too… Not like this… Not now..."

Hearing the boy's name lit a small spark somewhere deep behind the despair that overwhelmed her mind. "Tatsu...mi..." Her head fell against the soft bed that felt like it was made of red-hot spikes. "Please..." Her eyes closed just as tears started to roll down her face. "Help..." Her head fell flat against the bed, slowly being submerged back in the hellish nightmare she just emerged from. She fell silent, just as another head was separated from its owner on the stage outside, where an angry crowd cheered.

* * *

The door to the control room suddenly swung open as Asako got up on her one leg, using her sword as a cane. "Akira?" She whispered under her breath, almost reaching her hand towards the opening door. To her disappointment though, neither of the two man that entered was not her missing husband. "Dad, what happened?" She asked the barely breathing man as he helped the other one of her subordinates – Gab – walk. Kazuto lied the younger man on the ground, letting him rest against the wall. He was in a bad shape, tired, malnutritioned and hurt, though it didn't seem like he had any serious injuries.

Kazuto turned to her as he got back up. "...Me and Tatsumi… We found him... When we got... All the way down to... The lowest level… There was a... Danger Beast there, a strong one..." He paused to catch his breath. "Boy stayed there so we can get away. The nest isn't down there, we were wrong from the beginning. We must get back to the surface, inform General Najenda about what's going on here." He offered to help her walk with an outstretched hand, but she only took a step back, almost falling over in result. "What is it?"

"Where's Akira?" The man's face immediately turned away from her. She could also see Gab going pale at the same time as she looked between the two. Her heart almost stopped as she thought of the worst." W-What is it?" Neither answered, neither dared to look her in the eyes. She soon got fed up with it and grabbed her father by his shoulders, shaking them violently as she struggled to keep the tears off her face. "Talk to me damn it! Where is he!?" He stopped her, grabbing both of her arms tightly with his own, slowly focusing his gaze back at her.

"Asako..." He breathed in deeply. "I'm sorry." She suddenly felt weak as that word reached her. "He's dead… He gave his life to save Gab..." For moment her eyes turned to the man sitting by the wall. He was crying with his his head held with in both hands as he looked down at the ground, sobbing loudly. She then turned her eyes back to her father, not even realizing that she's crying too. "Asako, I know it hurts, but we both knew this might have-" She suddenly ripped her arms out of his hold.

"Shut up!" She lost her balance and fell straight to the ground. "You're lying! He couldn't just… He wouldn't..." Words left her, leaving her with nothing more then sobs and tears. "No… He has to be alive… He can't be dead…" Her arms started to shake as despair slowly took over her mind. "I don't believe this… I _won't_ believe this!" She felt Kazuto grab her shoulders.

"Asako, listen to me. We-"

"No!" She immediately pushed him away, not even caring about what he had to say. "He's not dead. He's alive, I know it!" Hastily, she pushed herself back up, struggling to not fall over again. "He's alive… He's alive… He's alive..." She thought she was ready to take on this kind of news, that she prepared herself to accept it… But she couldn't predict it would be like this. She couldn't predict how much it would hurt to hear those words. She couldn't ever prepare for this, no matter how much time she had… And she will not accept it. Not until she sees his dead body herself. She will pray for a miracle until that moment arrives and she will keep on holding to the hope even if it means denying all reason. He did it for her when she was just a lost and lonely girl fighting with a stray dog over a piece of old bread.

For some reason that she could never understand even to this day, when he saw her about to become dog food, bleeding out on the ground having completely given up on the life in this broken world where her own parents sold her off for a piece of meat, sold her to a man that raped her over and over again for months until she managed to escape, world where a 10 year old girl has to sell her body on the streets to survive another horrible day, he somehow found it in him to not only help her survive that day, but also to give her hope for a better tomorrow. And he never lost hope in her, no matter how close she was to giving up. No matter how much she wished she was dead, he was always there to keep her alive, even though his life was never any better.

Who would she be if she threw away the hope for the future he gave her? Who would she have to be to give up on the man that never gave up on her?

As soon as she was able to stand straight again, she rushed forward as fast as her one leg and makeshift cane would allow. "Asako!" Kazuto, a father she never thought she deserved, tried to stop her, but with how tired he was all he managed to do was weakly grab her wrist. She escaped his grasp easily, being in a far better shape then him even despite her missing leg, and smacked his head with the handle of her saber, easily knocking him out cold. Gab tried to stop her from leaving too, but only ended up falling over as he tried to get up, while she just continued on to the exit. Once she left the control room, she immediately turned towards the staircase that led to the lower level.

"I'm coming, Akira… I'm coming..." As soon as she started to go down, she started to slowly lose balance. She was only barely able to keep going down for a little over half of the way before completely loosing her footing and falling over. Her hands instinctively moved around her stomach to protect it, leaving her head unprotected as she rolled down on the stairs, eventually stopping once she reached the end of the staircase. "I'm coming… Just wait… For me..." Unsure of how long she lied there motionless and ignoring her bleeding forehead, she started to crawl towards another staircase.

"Please, Asako! Stop!" Gab run down after her. He wanted to stop her, but by the time he grabbed her shoulders so he can drag her back up, she already had her composure back and was more then ready to knock the air out of his lungs first, and consciousness out of his head second. With a well placed punch to the side of the head combined with man already barely able to keep himself standing straight, she had him knocked out cold in a second. She did end up falling on the ground again, and already being aware that trying to run down is not the best solution in her state, she proceeded to simply slide down instead.

Slowly, she made her way lower and lower, crying and holding her stomach as if it carried her biggest treasure. Because that's exactly what it did.

* * *

Leone did _not_ like the position she was in. Being surrounded by Danger Beasts and the worst smell she has ever felt she could take, she's been through worse then this more times then she could count. But some creepy voice whispering into her head? Calling for her to 'join' and 'become one with us'? Having the same Danger Beasts she's been smacking around or beating into one bloody pulp after another ignore her as if she was one of them? That's where she drew the line. The way she figured it, she was dealing with some kind of a hive-mind here and the voice she was hearing belonged to something like a queen or joined consciousness. Regardless what it was, since she could hear that voice directly in her head, it meant she must have already inhaled a spore or something like that. Probably around the time she entered inside of the nest.

That bit she liked even less...

She didn't bother answering the voice's calls though. All she did was simply ignore it. It didn't matter what it said, she was here to destroy it after all. And if she could kill a man knowing his children are sleeping in the next room and simply ignoring that fact, she could ignore that too. Didn't mean it wasn't annoying though. Before long, she found herself running through the kilometers long tunnels at speeds that made the Beasts around her fly around like mere rag dolls. At those speeds it would normally take her no more then a couple of minutes to get to her goal, but she quickly ended up hitting a wall.

Literal one.

She may be able to see perfectly well in the dark, but that doesn't mean she can do so just as well wile running almost at the speed of sound. Until that moment it didn't really matter, she was running straight ahead. And then she suddenly smashed head first into a wall of flesh and bones. A sticky, smelly wall of flesh and bones. "Tfu!" She spat out, feeling some of the ooze that covered the wall has entered her mouth. "Oh God, this is disgusting... I'm gonna need a bath after this..." Which is not to say she planned on skipping on that before. She smelled like rotten flesh and blood as it is, that was just an icing on the cake.

The wall she smashed into didn't do any real damage to her, and the little it did was healed almost immediately but the wall itself didn't seem damaged in the slightest. It seemed like it was almost as thick as the muscle she had to break through to get inside in the first place and she had no desire to waste this much time on getting through something like that again. Especially when that meant covering herself in more of... Whatever it was that oozed from that wall. " _Let us... Guide you...We'll show you... The way... To us..._ " And there was that voice again... She wanted to ignore it. She really did, but... She also wanted to avoid running in circles in a labyrinth that the hive turned out to be. The sheer amount of twists and turns she saw on the way here was mind boggling to her. She was never good at stuff like that. A maze of streets? Sure, she could handle that just fine, but running around dark tunnels that went in literally every direction? Not her cup of tea.

Begrudgingly, she ended up accepting the offer after a long sigh. "Alright!" Her hands flew into the air as she turned around and started to make her way to the tunnels she passed by before. "Where the fuck do I go if I want to kick your sorry ass?" She asked, standing in the middle of a crossing of five separate tunnels. And that's discounting the one she came from and the one that just proved itself to be nothing more then a dead end. She didn't have to wait long for a reply. After pointing out that she 'will not do such thing' and instead will accept a better future, the voice started to guide her through the twists and turns of the nest.

It also didn't stop calling for her to join but she never bothered to respond to that or even to being given directions. Going where it told her to was enough of an acknowledgment and if she had more room to maneuver she wouldn't even give it that. She couldn't get rid of a feeling that if she gives an inch in that situation, she'll end up loosing more then a mile. Which was probably a good thing, better safe then sorry when you know that your enemy can speak directly into your head. She was constantly on guard for anything wrong that might be happening to her, any kinds of movements that she didn't plan for, thoughts that were not hers... So far nothing wrong was there, but that didn't stop a feeling that in this fight, she's the one at the disadvantage. A big one.

She was not facing a normal opponent here. This one could literally get into her head and she had no clue just how far its influence could reach. For all she knew talking to her was all, but at the same time she could already be a puppet. With strings just loose enough for her to not notice them.

On her way ahead, she has found less and less of the Danger Beasts she's seen before until eventually she was walking through empty tunnels. She was closing in to her goal, whatever it was, and she couldn't help but feel a shiver run up her spine. "I have a bad feeling about this..." All of her senses were screaming at her to stop, to turn around and get away as soon as possible. She was always very sensitive when it came to sensing danger, more so then the rest of Night Raid, and those skills were only amplified whenever she used Lionel. Furthermore, now that she was outright fused with her Teigu, her ability to detect dangers was brought to a whole new level, one beyond anything she's ever been capable of. And that sense was now flaring up even more so then it did whenever she saw Esdeath.

That wasn't the same kind of danger though. Esdeath was strong, ridiculously so, but she was not the same kind of opponent she is facing now. She was not an enemy one must fight inside of their own head. And that's exactly what Leone is slowly realizing her currant foe to be. Realizing too slow. By the time she decided to listen to her senses and halt... She didn't. One step after another, her legs continued to march froward without a pause despite her protests. _Damn it!_ She couldn't even make a sound, it was as if her mind was locked off from the rest of her body. When has this happened though? She was sure everything was under her control, how did she not realize that this happened?

" _You will... Join us..._ " Through sheer force of will, Leone managed to grab her own arm and break the bone in half. The pain that flowed through her body into her mind proved to be enough of a wake up call for her to snap out of the trance. Groaning and panting, she rested against the wall, holding onto her arm until she felt her regeneration kick in. " _You will join... Whether you like it... Or not..._ " Grinding her sharp teeth together, she looked up at the end of the tunnel she was in with blazing anger in her eyes. She saw a shape there, a feminine one. Probably the queen of the hive. There wasn't much else she could say, it was still too far away, but... Nobody gets away with taking away her will and freedom. _Nobody_.

Not the pieces of shit that terrorized the streets she grew up on. Not the corrupted nobles that kept her living in the dirt. Not the assholes that worked her to near-death in exchange for the privilege of not becoming their plaything. Not the 'guards' that 'protected' her parents. Not the Empire that made it all possible... And not some wannabe Queen of a Hive.

There could be only one Queen left standing after the approaching battle is over. And the Queen of Beasts was not about to hand over the vicroty to anyone.

* * *

Silence filled the atmosphere around Tatsumi as his foe finally fell. The mighty Danger Beast of ancient times was dead and he was its killer. The first hunt of the reborn Tyrant was completed with a success. It was a proof of its survival. Proof that even death is not enough to concur it. Proof that nothing will stop it... And that nothing will stop Tatsumi.

As he stood there he couldn't help but let his thoughts to drift to Akame. He was sure that the girl was going through unimaginable torments now. Ones that he _will_ put an end to. No matter the cost. He made a promise after all... That he will make it all better... He was determined to fulfill that promise too, just like he did the previous one. He survived for her, and he will make sure that she will survive for him...

Looking back at the time he's spent with her he could only scold himself for not realizing he has feelings for her. The countless moments when they bonded, be it over a pot or a dead body, were all precocious to him. Their training sessions, joint hunts, nighttime conversations by the fireplace... Those were all among the best moments of his time with Night Raid, in his life even. Everytime he listened about her life as a young girl he wanted nothing more then to find a way to make it better, to break all of the chains that hold her down, be it ones the Empire has put on her, or the ones she made for herself. All that coupled with them risking their lives together and covering each other's backs made it pretty obvious they would start to fall in love with one another.

But for some reason he didn't realize it. Not until he watched her tears fall on his dead body.

He should have realized sooner, he should have done _something_ before they even set out for the final battle... If he did, then maybe she wouldn't have said what she did back when they kissed... 'I know that no one would feel like that about somebody like me'. She truly believed that. She really thought that she's undeserving of anyone's love, his included... And he didn't want that. He wanted to love her, and he wanted her to feel that love. To know that she can't accept his feelings was painful... But also a motivator. If she believed she can't be loved, then he will prove her wrong. If she believed herself to be a tool meant to be discarded once its used, he will pick her off the ground and carry towards a brighter future. If she thinks what she feels for him is somehow wrong, he will accept all of it. If she-

Suddenly, he was snapped out of his thoughts as a single sound broke the silence around him. It was quiet, but his ears immediately picked up on it and he turned towards it's source – the open corridor from which the Beast he just killed came out from. Then another sound came to him, this one clearer. More followed soon, replacing the dead silence of the archive. Those sounds were rocks hitting one another... Somewhere in that corridor, something was moving. And what that something was, became clear to him once he heard another sound come to him. The source of this one weren't rocks... It was a voice.

A quiet, weak one. Less then a whisper, more like a dying breath. It was a single word... The last cry of defiance against death, made by a man buried under a pile of rocks deep in the darkness of the Imperial Archive. "Asa... ko..."

* * *

 **Song of the day: Bullet for my Valentine** – **You Want a Battle? (Here's a War!)**


	10. Lovers and Queens

With a loud thud, Asako's body fell against the cold, stone floor of the Archive's lowest level. She was exhausted beyond belief and beat up after the countless times she fell over during the way down. Her face was outright swollen and bleeding from several places while the rest of her body felt worse then after a whole day of training under her drill Sargent. There were bruises all over it, and even the stump she was left with in place of her leg started to bleed again, albeit not quite as badly as it did when Tatsumi removed her leg. The only part of her body left untouched was her stomach which she made sure was protected at all times, no matter how hard she fell.

All those wounds were nothing to her though. Just minor inconveniences. Obstacles on her way and nothing more. She ignored them all until now, simply pushing through the pain they brought with them until she reached her currant position. That's when all of her exhaustion and fatigue finally hit her, making her resolve collapse onto the ground like a house of cards. In one moment, all of her muscles refused to obey her commands, all of her strengths abandoned her and all of her pain was brought to the forefront. Panting hard she remained still, with her face down on the ground. She couldn't even bring herself to try to get up after her first attempt failed miserably. This wouldn't go on for long though. Because as she was forced to lay there in the darkness by a body too weak to break through its limits, her mind stepped in.

She saw images. Memories flashing before her eyes. Moments in her life when she felt true and pure joy. All of which involved Akira.

Their first meeting when he saved her from a ravenous dog. How he treated her wounds, both the ones on her body and mind... And how she treated his. Everytime they met after that to talk, play and keep each other alive. How they cried in each other's arms and comforted one another in times of need. The time they run away from their worthless lives to start a now one together. Moment when they joined the Revolutionary Army and their training to become soldiers. Those many missions they went through together, covering each other's backs as comrades. The evening when he said he loves her and the night that followed... The first time she actually enjoyed sex, first time she didn't want the night to end... All of their close moments from then on, the kisses they shared, both gentle and rough, warm embraces they enjoyed, restless nights they lost themselves in...

And at the end of it... Their marriage. The happiest moment of their lives. The climax of their time together... The kiss that sealed their vows was the sweetest one she tasted, the smile that adored her face the whole day long the widest she ever made. The tears that wouldn't stop coming warmest she could remember and the night it ended with the best of her life... Was it also the end of them? The best and at the same time, last moment for them to truly be together? She didn't know, and wasn't sure whether she thought life in uncertainty would be better then harsh truth or not, but... She wanted to know. She _had_ to know. Even if it meant being met with the image that hunted her worst nightmares, she had to know if those nightmares were reality or just the devil toying with her. She had to know if the knife Death held against her heart was going to cut it open or leave her be.

The conviction from her mind forced the rest of her body to raise. She pushed herself up on her hands and started to crawl forward. Her saber has broken at some point, making her unable to use it to help her walk. "Akira..." She called out, but her voice was too weak for anyone to hear as her vocal cords were sore from the crying and screaming she did on the way down. "Akira... Where are you..." She could smell death in the air... And scorched flesh... But it was not that of a human, that much she knew for sure. The burn marks on her back left as a memento from when she was still a child prostitute on the Capital's streets were a testament to that.

However, the little bit of strength she managed to muster was soon about to disappear. The lamp she had with her had suddenly burned out, and her resolve along with it. Her only source of light was gone, leaving her surrounded by complete darkness in which she couldn't even see her own hands held in front of her face. In anger, she threw the lamp away with a scream that only made her throat hurt more. "Akira... Akira..." She felt tears drip down her face again as she frantically tried to move forward, to get away from the darkness, only to place her hand against the still hot, broken glass of the lamp which cut straight through her skin. "Where are you... Please tell me... Please..." More tears came as she curled into a ball, desperately fighting against the dark despair slowly filling her head.

Panic started to set in, taking away all strength and determination she managed to muster in herself. 'Sargent Asako' begun to slowly fade away, the hard exterior she has built over her broken mind shattered like a castle of glass, leaving her as nothing more then a little girl she was years ago, sobbing and shaking in fear of the darkness that surrounded her. Just as she feared every night of her childhood... Just as she feared what those nights brought... She felt herself fall back into the dark sea of nightmares she so desperately wanted to forget about, where shadows of her memories already waited for her. It didn't matter how hard she struggled, once she was engulfed in the darkness there was nothing she could do to get back on the surface on her own. "Akira... Save me... Please..."

She felt the shadows' hands touch her body. Hands that groped her when she was a child, touched places she never wanted to be touched, entered holes she never wanted penetrated. She felt whips and hot iron scarring her body, more hands beating her head, feet kicking her stomach. She felt spit and piss hit her face, enter her mouth. She heard sounds of laughter above her, felt stares of all man and woman that used her like a toy for their own sick pleasure. They all stood around her as she choked on her own sobs and drowned in despair, mocking her for ever thinking she can leave them behind. All of their faces were as clear as memories of pain and sorrow they brought her, only pushing her deeper into the darkness that clouded her mind.

Before long, she completely gave up. Outright laughed at herself for hoping Akira would come and rescue her again. He was dead, and she should have killed herself long ago before he had a chance to give her hope for a change, before he could show her how much better life could be for her... For them... At least she would have died not knowing what she was missing out on, what was taken away from her... And she wouldn't have to suffer the pain of losing him. She already gave up on the thought that he is still somewhere out there, waiting for her. Darkness was her biggest fear, one that only he could release her of... And since he was nowhere to be seen... Nowhere on this earth...

"Oh... I see..." If he was no longer here, then she should go meet him in heaven, hell or wherever people are sent to after death. As far as she was concerned, even nonexistence seemed like a better fate then living on without him. Her hand slowly reached out towards the piece of glass that had just cut it. "I'm coming Akira... I'll... See you... Soon... Very soon..." She held the glass shard over her neck, bracing herself for what she's about to do.

"Asa... ko..."

She felt her hands shaking as her grip on the glass tightened, further cutting her fingers. Tears continued to flow and her breathing became even more erratic with the sharp tip almost touching her throat. "I'll join you, Akira... Soon... We'll be together again... Forever..."

"Asako..."

Somewhere on the back of her mind, she heard a voice calling for her to not do it, to let go of the glass blade and keep on living, but she immediately squashed it down. To keep on living? Without him? Alone? What kind of life was that suppose to be? She was better off dead, there was no one who needed her anyways. Kazuto can handle it, he toughened out the loss of his whole family, he'll have no problem with handling loss of one adoptive daughter. She had no other family besides him too... She had no one to live for...

"Asako... Don't..."

"I'll do it... Now!" The blade shot up into the air only to be immediately brought back down... But it didn't cut into her, merely brushed against the skin on her throat. But why? She wanted to die so badly, to end that pathetic excuse of a life that only lasted this long thanks to one man who already left this world. She wanted to put an end to it all and yet... She couldn't. Because as soon as the glass shard started to approach her throat, she felt something from her stomach... A heartbeat.

"Asako!"

The piece of glass in her hand was suddenly knocked out of her hand. She felt something grab her wrist and in a rush of panic tried to rip it out of it, only for something to pin her down to the ground. "No! Don't touch me!" Another dark memory she buried deep within started to surface again. Memory of the man she was sold to by her parents and the night when he got to enjoy his new 'toy' for the first time. The horror she felt when he started to force himself into her, the pain... Nothing else that came after that came even close. She remembered how she screamed, called for her parents to come and save her, begged him to stop... All of that fell on his deaf ears. He simply laughed at her struggles to get away from the pain and continued to mercilessly rape her 10 year old body... And her parents? The food they got as a payment for her was poisoned. They wouldn't come even if they cared.

In a violent outbreak, she started to attack whatever it was that grabbed her. Having noticed that while she had one hand held in a tight grasp, the other one was free, she swung it around, hoping to scare away the thing holding her. "Let me go! Let me go!" It did nothing though. She definitely felt that she was hitting something, but it didn't get it off her. Her cries only grew louder and more desperate at that as her swinging became increasingly harder. She thought she heard some voice calling her, but she with her screams being so loud and her mind clouded by fear, none of that truly reached her. "Akira! Help me, please! Akira!"

She continued to trash around for god knows how long, unable to shake off the foreign presence off her. No matter how much she would hit it or how loud she screamed and cried, it wouldn't go away. "Akira... Akira..." Her voice finally started to break, finally becoming quiet enough for the voice she's been hearing all this time to reach her.

"It's me!" The thing holding her said, it's voice... Was calming... And familiar... It was almost as if the one holding her was... "It's me, Asako... I'm here..." The grip on her hand loosened as her body went limp with the realization of just who was atop her. "Everything is fine... You're safe now... They can't hurt you again..." His hand moved over to her tear covered cheek, gently rubbing it as even more tears started to fall. Her own hands started to slowly reached out to him, shaking all the way up until they reached his face. And in that moment, light finally returned to her world, letting her see him again. The same scar covered face she fell in love with. The same white hair she so enjoyed grooming. The same violet eyes that seduced her...

"...A... A-Aki... ra..." Her voice was weak and quiet, outright broken after all the screaming. It's not like she needed it for anything other then crying though. "Y-You're... You're a-ali... ve..." He looked absolutely horrible. Aside from the scars and deformations that were a result of experiments performed on him as a child, he had his whole head covered in blood and bruises. A lot were a result of her breakdown, but the rest were hardly anything to ignore. His skull was visibly cracked in several places, with pieces of rock and such still stuck in it, probably only left there to not let him slowly bleed out. He really looked like he just crawled out of a grave... And like he was about to go back into it.

She couldn't have that. Not now when he was with her again...

Gently, her hands squeezed the sides of his face, forcing him to look straight into her eyes. She could swear he was about to loose consciousness. "A-Akira... Listen..." It took all she had to say even a word. Her vocal chords felt like they were on fire and every word she forced through them was like pouring gasoline onto that fire. Still, she had to tell him. "I-I'm... I'm... Preg... nant..." His usually stiff face twisted in shock. It quickly faded away though, replaced with a small smile. "You... Be-Better... Stay with... M-Me..." His head slowly fell down against her shoulder, letting her arms rest around it.

"I will..." His eyes slowly started to close as did hers. "I'll never... Leave you... Again..." Their wounded and exhausted bodies quickly fell into deep sleep. Tears still streaming down from their eyes; smiles still plastered to their faces.

 _Damn, they're kinda adorable together... Despite everything..._ Tatsumi thought as he looked at the unconscious married couple. His right hand was engulfed in bright flames he used to allow them to see, but seeing as they won't be needing that and he sees without issue without that anyways, he put them down without wasting time. He immediately picked them both up, careful to not cause any further damage to either. Especially to Akira. When Tatsumi found him buried under rubble he brought down on himself to not become food for the beast he had killed before finding him, the man was in a critical shape. He was outright holding onto his life with the sheer force of will. He had bones broken all over his body, internal bleeding in multiple places, severe head concussion... On top of that his right arm was completely crushed under a boulder. If he was a normal person, he would be dead long before the time Tatsumi was able to get to him, but the man proved himself to be far from it. It didn't take Tatsumi long to realize he was experimented on since very young age. His heavily misshapen body was a testament to that and the leftovers of injection sites on his remaining arm that survived even to this day all the proof he needed.

The boy couldn't be sure, but if he were to guess, the drugs that were tested on him were the ones that ultimately would end up used by Kurome. He's read some files Revolutionary Army had on those drugs as soon along with the rest of Night Raid and the part about aftereffects of early versions of the drug definitely matched what he was seeking. Furthermore, the early versions were meant to be used only once and mutate the subject's body. This ultimately proved fatal to most test subjects and ended up in the drug being make into a weaker version, making it necessary to regularly take in small doses at a price of a heavy addiction.

The drug must have caused a lot of pain to him throughout his life, even long after it's application, but ironically it's probably the only reason why he managed to toughen out through this and came out alive, if not necessary in one piece. He was in way too bad shape to be moved though and wouldn't survive being carried back to the surface. Tatsumi had to heal him up a bit, and luckily his blood had healing properties that were only a step away from those Lionell's possessed, making it perfect to slowly put Akira's body into a usable shape. He was hardly capable of getting back on the surface on his own, but he was definitely more then capable of rushing to Asako's side as soon as he noticed her and taking a beating from her while she was still in a full on panic mode. For a moment Tatsumi considered stepping in, but from the man's expression he could say this was not the first time it happened and that he knows what he's doing, subsequently deciding to stay out of this and just give him some light.

"Alright you two..." He was about to place each on a separate shoulder of his, but quickly found that the two are in a much stronger embrace then he would have suspected. It was hardly something he couldn't break, but seeing how happy they look, he decided to just leave them be and proceeded to carry both in his arms. Not that it was any effort on his part. "Time to get back up. Akame's waiting..."

* * *

In a single burst of speed, Leone cut through the air like a bullet. The tunnel around her shook as the shockwave left by her reached it, pushing all of the moisture that covered its walls away while she has already closed in on her target – the female figure ominously standing in the chamber ahead. Merely a fraction of a second after entering the chamber, Leone was already right next to the figure with her fist ready to smash it to bits before she even had a good look at it. It's not like she cared though, after what it tried to pull on her mind, she was furious, almost glowing with rage. At the moment, she wanted nothing more than to turn whatever it was into a bloody pulp, but that desire would remain unfulfilled for now as the figure simply melted into the ground right in time to avoid her fist.

Her own speed has carried her forward almost two hundred meters before she was able to slow herself down and turn around. However, just as she was about to locate her enemy again, she felt great pain spread through her head. It was hardly enough to stop her, far from it, but still, it was not only a major annoyance, but also meant that she is not completely free from Hive Queen's control. She had to deal with it fast, or her time might run out sooner then she expects.

Groaning under her breath, she looked around the chamber in search of the figure. She found it exactly where it was before, looking at her as if nothing happened. Leona was quick to make another attempt to kill her foe, this time getting a good look at her beforehand. As she thought, it was a women, or at least had a body of one. She was naked, with bits of black chitin covering parts of her body along with dark, brown skin. Her bone white hair reached down all the way to the floor, seamlessly melting into. She was also extremely tall, way over two meters which easily made her dwarf Leone in comparison, even if the lioness was on the high end of the spectrum herself. Her arms, neck, legs and just about any part of her was very thin, though not to the point where one could see her bones. She clearly had a lot of muscle on her, just like Leone, and that coupled with the length of her arms and legs immediately made the alarm bells ring in Leone's mind.

And then there were her eyes… Just one glance at those black, empty orbs and the malice hidden behind them was enough for Leone to know what kind of enemy she's dealing with. A self-righteous monster. One with a cause it believes righteous enough to cost 'a few lives'. And the 'few' in that case doesn't mean the bad guys. This thing was ready to murder anything in its way and then some for whatever cause it believed in. Leone might not exactly be an angel herself, but she has _never_ killed someone who hasn't deserved it one way or another. She would never even consider killing innocents, no matter what her goal is... But that thing would. And for some reason, Leone had a strange feeling that killing innocents itself is part of whatever it was planning for the world.

It _had_ to be stopped. Leone just knew it on purely instinctual level. With haste, she rushed ahead, this time making a wide swipe at the creature's legs, forcing it to jump to avoid the attack and thus allowing Leone to attack it directly. The lioness halted in place and instantly jumped after her opponent with her fist ready to attack, not holding back even a bit of her strength. The sheer force of the attack would be enough to outright vaporize most enemies and speed of her arm great enough for air around it to catch fire... And yet, it was not enough. The punch did send her foe flying away to the very ceiling of the chamber, and shattered the chitin on its body to pieces, but as soon as it reached the fleshy ceiling, it simply entered into it just as it did before when she attacked for the first time. Less then half a second later it was already back out, without even a hint of damage to it's body left to be seen. It instantly fell back down, so fast that Leone, still surprised by the development, didn't react until after her face was outright split open with a single kick to it.

Her reaction was all but what one would expect. Before the damage done even managed to heal, the women grabbed the leg that just attacked her and pulled her foe back towards her, delivering another crippling blow, this time to it's head – outright blowing it into pieces. This was hardly the end though. Leone immediately proceeded to punch her foe again, quickly turning its body into nothing but scraps that fell all over the ground before.

That too, in the end achieved nothing. As soon as the lioness landed back on the ground, she spotted the Hive Queen emerging from the ground yet again, with body as good as new. "Tch..." She clicked her tongue. _This isn't gonna get me anywhere._ She probably wasn't even facing Queen's real body, just a doll meant for her to break herself over, an Avatar it uses to present herself before her. Hell, for all she knew, the hive _itself_ may be queen's body. And if that's the case... Well, she'll have a lot of smashing to do. _There must be something here I can use... Some sort of brain or heart I can destroy to end this thing for good..._ The blood flowing all around her had to lead somewhere. And that somewhere sure as hell was important in some way.

Knowing that the direct fight with the Hive Queen's Avatar is pointless, she turned on her feet and was just about to rush back to the entrance, hoping to follow the blood to it's source, but was suddenly stopped before making even a single step. The pain she felt from her head before has returned, far stronger then before. It outright make her drop on one knee the moment it hit her with it's full force. "Grrrr..." Growling in anger, she got back on her feet as fast as she could, but was unable to react in time to escape an incoming attack. All she managed to do was put her arms up to defend herself, resulting in both of them being broken in half by the sheer force of the attack as she was sent flying towards the wall. Her bones merged back together almost instantly, but that 'almost' was enough for the Queen's Avatar to close the distance between them again.

Leone quickly gathered herself together and jumped into the air, just high enough to for her feet to be on the same level as the Avatar's head at the moment when its fist into the wall. The kick that followed was powerful enough to send its head flying away without the rest of the body. That was not much of a help though. As soon As Leone landed back on the ground Avatar's still headless body swung its fist at her. She was just barely able to avoid it by ducking under the swing but then was met with Avatar's knee as it rushed to meet her chin. Again, Leone barely got away untouched, this time by jumping to the side just as the Avatar's head grew back.

She was given no rest though. In an instant, a barrage of punches and kicks was sent her way, each powerful enough to snap her steel hard bones in half as if they were mere matches and faster then anything she had ever encountered. If it wasn't for her merging with Lionell, she would be done for long ago. Her opponent was on the same level as someone of Esdeath's caliber and was not handicapped by attempts at mind control. And to top it off, the Avatar could regenerate itself as many times as it wanted, with _thousands_ tons of raw material to use for that. Lionell's regeneration is limited to what she can carry in her. It might be extremely efficient, wasting no precious resources where there was no need to, but it could effectively heal her for only so long before the need to restock arises. The result of fight was practically decided from the start without her knowing, even if it wasn't for her currant handicap, she'd be fucked either way. _Fuck_ _!_ _Fuck_ _!_ _Fuck_ _!_ _Fuck_ _!_ _Fuck_ _!_ _Fuck_ _!_ _Fuck_ _!_ _Fuck_ _!_ _Fuck_ _!_ She knew more then well enough that attacking the Avatar did nothing to get her closet to her goal, but that was honestly all she could do now. With it pressing an offensive this heavy she had no room to get away, and even if she did find an opening, she had no idea where to go in the first place.

Finally, one of the Avatar's attacks proved to be too much to dodge, forcing Leone to take it head on with her hands. She tried to twist the attack against her foe somehow and attempted to grab it by the wrist and let the force of the attack to take them both away in hope that would create an opening for her. No such luck though. As soon as Leone moved her hand to intercept the attack, Avatar's clanged fist turned into an open hand that pierced right through the palm of Leone's hand. The pain was strong, but not nearly as much of a problem as the one coming from her head and it wasn't long for Leone to try countering. She swung her other hand at the Avatar's head, only for it to be met with a swing of equal force. Before she could come up with anything better, the Avatar had sent her flying with a kick to the stomach. While Leone was still in the air, trying to recover, the Avatar had already closed in and kicked her again, this time sending her flying towards the ceiling. And once she reached it, the Avatar dissolved into the ground, immediately appearing on the ceiling above the lioness with both hands prepared to strike. Now, she was sent flying back to the ground, right next to one of the walls with two bleeding holes on her body. One along her lower spine, the other on the back of her head.

This was still not the end though. For the one final attack, the Avatar dived from above with it's leg extended towards Leone. That strike would prove fatal and as soon as Leone realized this a rush of adrenaline hit her and enabled her to roll away and get back on her legs. The shockwave that formed after the Avatar fell on the ground has sent Leone back, against the wall. Seeing that its attack has failed, the Avatar immediately moved in to follow it up with a punch.

Miraculously, Leone managed to jump away just in time to avoid being pierced through by Avatar's hand which smashed into the wall instead, sending another shockwave throughout the whole chamber. "...Struggling is... Fruitless..." Instead of attacking again, the Avatar simply stood there, facing Leone, it's fist still held against the wall. The lioness was barely able to bring herself back on her feet as the pain made her body feel numb, not even able to see properly. Shaking from the effort, she put her arms in a defensive stance, taking one step back and trying to recollect herself before an attack she could only wait for. Not that any of it would do much to protect her if such an attack actually came. "...No matter... What you do... You are... Already... One of us..." As if on cue, Leone felt as if someone set of a bomb inside her head. All the composure she managed to regain vaporized in an instant as she fell on the ground, screaming and holding her head. She could feel something moving inside, spreading itself throughout her brain and taking away her will bit by bit.

Almost as if she was looking through a fog, she saw the Queen's Avatar approaching her, carefully sizing her up, looking down at her. "...Your body... Is strong... It will be... A new... Vessel... For our will..." Leone suddenly felt something pull her towards the wall, dragging her over the slimy floor. She was soon partially sucked into the wall of flesh, completely immobilizing her weakened body. She struggled to break free with all she got, but all of her attempts were ceased in an instant with a single punch to the stomach. As the Avatar's hand pierced into her body, all Leone could do was fall limply, saving the last bits of her strength on keeping her mind her own. "...First... You must be... Processed... And then... You will be the... The final tool... In our quest... To free the humanity... From itself..."

With one last burst of anger, Leone's hand was freed from it's prison. It immediately accelerated towards the Avatar's face... But that punch wouldn't even make a children cry. It was weak. Pathetic even... Though the hate filled glare that accompanied it was anything but. "Go to hell... I'll wait for you there..." Never letting up on that glare of defiance, Leone was slowly absorbed into the wall of flesh, leaving the Avatar to stand idly in place, awaiting it's next order. However, unbeknownst to the Hive, as a silence filled the chamber, a single tear rolled down the Avatar's face and fell down between its feet. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Soon, more tears followed. "I'm sorry... Vel... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

* * *

 **Song of the day: Icon for Hire – Off With Her Head**


	11. Past and Memories

**Well, this is what happens when confine myself to a set ending when writing a chapter. You have to wait months for me to finish it, that's why I try to not do it. Hell, if i did that, I WOULD STILL BE WRITING CHAPTER 4.**

 **Anyways, enjoy these 20.000 word monster of a chapter...**

* * *

Hundreds of years before the first seeds of the Revolution were even planted, when the rightful ruler still reigned supreme over his land and his people prospered, in times when the Empire was yet to feel the bitter taste of corruption, in one of thousands of chambers spread throughout the Imperial Palace a single figure laid in a large bed. A women, with hair white as snow and skin dark as coal. The sun was already high above the horizon and its rays entered the chamber yet none reached her eyes. She was wrapped tightly in her bed sheets, completely shielded from sun's wake-up call. It was however, no defense against a foot that suddenly found its way to her butt. "Get the fuck up you lazy ass!" The black woman was knocked out of the bed even though she was more then capable of dodging the incoming attack. After all, she was the Empire's Strongest. She knew the attack was coming the moment the other person stepped into her room. Or rather reentered it. That very same person was sleeping beside her the whole night long. Currant wielder of Lionelle, her second in command and on top of that, also her lover – Velvet Hashi.

A groan sounded from the cocoon of bed sheets that now lied on the floor but it didn't even flinch. "Shut up Vel... I'm tired..." Completely content with continuing to sleep on the floor, the women fell silent again, only making Velvet growl in anger. She immediately walked over to her commander and drop kicked her right in the stomach. "Hey! That hurt!" Her tone was more playful then angry and she didn't even bother to move after that, only angering Velvet more.

"For fucks sake get up!" She tried to wrestle the blanket away from her, but achieved nothing. "It's already past twelve!"

"So what? That's barely past morning..."

"You're TWO HOURS late for your meeting with the Emperor damn it!" She kicked again, but again, to no effect. In fact, all she achieved was making her leg hurt

"But I'm so tired..."

"I don't give a shit!"

"But it's your fault~" She finally decided to pull her head out of the warm embrace of her bed sheets, looking at Velvet with her deep green eyes for a second, just long enough to blow her a kiss, before disappearing under the sheets again. "The last night was soooo~ much fuuun~. Didn't think you would put your whole arm in… Not that I'm complaining~" She could almost see the blush on the other woman's face. No doubt she was getting angrier and angrier with her lover, but it was fine. It didn't matter what she did, all of it would do nothing but amuse the hell out of her. It was actually tempting to look at her again, to see those violet orbs angrily staring down at her, the pout on her blushing face as she threw one insult after another at her for being too lazy for her own good and utterly irresponsible, her short-cut black hair... And that ass… Damn, she had a nice ass… It was really tempting to take a bite of it… Again... And then fall asleep on it. _What have I ever done to deserve such a perfect companion~_

After a good minute of being kicked and screamed at with absolutely no response from the Empire's Strongest other then a smile that quickly found its way to her face as she started to drift back into the land of… _very nice dreams,_ Velvet finally had enough. "Alright, that's it! I'm fucking done being nice! I'll beat your fucking ass to hell and back if that's what it takes to make you get up!"

"Oh~ Please do!" Suddenly, a hand shot out from under the sheets, accelerating towards Velvet's collar at speeds that even she, being one of the best soldiers of the Empire, couldn't react to in time. Before she knew it, she was pulled under the sheets and immobilized as her lover wrapper both her arms and legs around her like vines. She wouldn't be able to free herself from her strong grip even if she had activated Lionelle, and the black woman holding her didn't even have her own Teigu on. It was at times terrifying how one person can hold this much power, but right now, Velvet had other things to worry about. Like for example her mouth being forcefully opened and penetrated by her lover's tongue. The wet appendage itself was strong enough to push her lower jaw down to allow her access to deeper parts of her mouth, something that was immediately taken advantage of. And despite trying not to, Velvet quickly melted into the kiss, happily moaning as her own tongue engaged in this unfair battle, only to lose horribly as expected and become another toy for the other women to play with. Before long, she felt her butt being roughly squeezed, with nails digging into her flesh. It was like flipping the switch after this. Velvet immediately gave up the submissive attitude and grabbed the black ass of her lover as roughly as she grabbed her own and brought her teeth down on her tongue as it mercilessly played around in her mouth.

This time it was the other women that moaned loudly. And also as if a switch in her head was suddenly flipped, her dominating presence and overwhelming strength turned into complete and utter submission. Despite being perfectly capable to do that and far more, she didn't resist at all while her head was being pushed down to the ground. Her arms instead of holding Velvet close, moved to remove her clothes instead. Velvet allowed that, especially when she felt one of her lover's hands has slipped under her shirt and started groping her breasts. She started to run her tongue over her commander's teeth as the other women shyly rubbed her own tongue against Velvet's. She suddenly felt a light pinch on her nipple and immediately decided to retaliate against that show of disobedience. Her mouth quickly pulled away from the kiss and instead moved over to her lover's shoulder where she bit down hard, almost drawing blood, which was no easy task considering who the women underneath her is. Except of a perverted masochist who is about to get off just from being bitten and groped.

Just before she got to reach the climax though, Velvet moved her mouth up to her ear, leaving a trail of light bites up her neck, finishing it off with another hard bite on her ear. She was by then panting hard and shaking under Velvet's touch. But again, Velvet stopped right before pushing her lover over the line. She instead blew air into her ear and said. "Cassandra… Either you get out by yourself and go meet the Emperor, or I'm dragging you there myself."

She simply got back on her legs and fixed her shirt while the woman on the ground stared at her, completely stunned. "Eeeeeeeeh!?" This time it was her turn to pout and blush furiously as Velvet crossed her arms in front of her. She could see Cassandra's wet groin very clearly, but didn't let that distract her from staring the woman down. "Oh, please! I'm so turned on I'm about to explode!" She received no answer other than a cold glare and a finger pointing at the door. Cassandra wasn't having any of it though and merely grabbed her covers again and wrapped them around herself tightly yet again, still pouting like baby that was just refused its playtime.

"Alright. So be it." Velvet naturally wasn't throwing empty threats before. She fully intended, and even expected to fulfill them. And so, she grabbed part of the blanket and started to drag it, and Cassandra who refused to let go of them, along the floor. Completely uncaring how many weird looks she got from the servants or even guards and how many of them laughed at Cassandra's loud objections. Hell, even the elite guards standing right outside the throne room couldn't help to let out a quiet chuckle at that. And those guys are nothing if not stone-faced. They especially seemed to enjoy the part where she complained about her 'breaking her human right to an adequate amount of sleep' since not only is she known to be an all around lazy woman not just in the palace, but also was the one training them, and early wake-up calls were an everyday occurrence. Though it was mostly Velvet who did the waking and the living proof of that was currently being dragged over the floor behind her.

Ultimately, she threw her into the throne room like a living sack of potatoes. "I'm sorry for the wait my Lord!" She bowed her head low and dropped on one knee right after moving next to Cassandra's little cocoon. "General Cassandra has proven herself to be more difficult to persuade then anticipated."

"I can see that..." The man on the throne only smiled lightly at that. His large posture and wide, muscular shoulders combined with sharp features of his face made the man out to be someone of an overwhelming presence to anyone who doesn't deal with him on daily basis, but he only puts up the appearance when he has to. For those he works closely with, he is an outright goof, not only willing but outright happy to take part in friendly banter whenever he has the time. "General Cassandra..." Now was not the time though. He spoke, in a serious tone, only amplified by his deep voice as he turned his eyes towards the immobile cocoon. "We have an important matter to discuss. Will you get up yourself, or should I call my dear wife again?" As if under effect of a magic spell, the cocoon started to slowly move, revealing the naked body of general Cassandra for the world to see as she rose to her full height, towering over even the tallest man in the room and making her lover, who was on the shorter end of the spectrum, look like a midget in comparison. No one reacted though. Both the Emperor and all his advisors were by now very much used to her liberal take on laws against public nudity and simply ignored it. If only to quietly admire her… Everything.

Velvet wasn't having any of it though and quickly wrapped the blankets around her. "Please don't call my sis… I couldn't sit straight for a month after she was done with me last time. Even I have limits, you know..." She yawned loudly. Almost as if she was unaware of the fact that not only is she surrounded by nobelty, but also in the presence of one of the most powerful man in the world and her boss at the same time. "So, why did you wake me up so early? I was having such a nice dream..."

"General Gavin was killed." The room fell completely silent for a long second. One could hear a pin drop. Cassandra turned her gaze towards the Emperor, finally facing him with seriousness in her eyes. Gavin was not only her best friend, one who brought her to the Empire from her own country but also the Empire's Second Strongest. Outmatched only by her. It didn't seem possible that someone other then her managed to not only best him but also kill. Especially considering what his Teigu was.

"What happened?"

"He and his elite troops were sent to reclaim the Archives. I do not know what they encountered there, but the few that managed to escape back to the surface confirmed his death."

"And his Teigu?"

"Demon's Extract has already returned to it's container." The Emperor leaned forward on his throne. "There's no doubt about it. Even he has perished, the man who alone conquered wild plains of the west and protected our land from the barbarians of the north. A hero and friend to us all..." His hand curled into a fist as his eyes closed and his voice fell silent. Cassandra herself has lowered her head and held her hand against her chest, muttering prayers in her native language that no one beside Velvet could understand.

"We cannot let ourselves fall to grief now though." Prime Minister Quovadis said, standing at Emperor's right side. The man was old, but still perfectly capable of standing without support thanks to his fit yet small body formed thanks to being a general in his younger years. He was for a time Cassandra's mentor too, mostly during her first years in the Empire. That was over ten years ago though, before his health started to drastically turn for worse. He can no longer fight or use his Teigu, the one she inherited from him. He had more hair back then too. "With only you and General Deux remaining we are met with a dire question to answer. Should we seal off the Archive, or continue attempts to reclaim it?"

Cassandra didn't even hesitate before answering. "I'll go there and reclaim the Archive myself." Her face twisted into a grim look as her anger rose inside her. "Whatever killed my… _Our_ friend will pay for it dearly, you have my word." The emperor slowly rose from his throne after hearing that and approached her. Everyone he passed by immediately fell on one knee, including Velvet. He was an exceptionally tall man by any standards, but he still came a head short of Cassandra, who was the only one to not bow in front of him.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, looking straight into her deep, blue eyes with his sharp, green ones. "The Archive is just scrolls and books, knowledge that can always be regained with time. People like you… I value far more."

"...I'm sure." She said, her voice devoid of any doubt and filled with confidence. "I'm sure that whatever is in there will eventually get bored with its playing ground and decide to come out. We have to stop it now that we still have a chance. Who knows what it will become given enough time…" Emperor simply stood still for a good couple of seconds in complete silence before slowly nodding his head and gently wrapping his arms around Cassandra's slender body. She wasted no time before putting her hand on top of his green-hair covered head. "There, there… No need to act like a kid in front of everyone… I promise I will come back victorious. You will _not_ be loosing another friend..." She sighed deeply. The man didn't show any signs of wanting to let go so she simply allowed him to let it out. Gods know, he deserved every moment like that after all the close friends and family members he has lost on top of carrying a nation's weight on his shoulders.

Really, if it wasn't for her sister, Cassandra was certain he would have been swallowed by grief long time ago.

And speaking of her sister… She has just now entered the throne room, unnoticed by both the Emperor and Cassandra until it was too late for… "Ooooh… So that's how it will be, huh?" The two turned their heads only to see an angry women with features almost identical to Cassandra, save for abnormal height. "Got so bored of me you need to satisfy yourself with my sister's chest?" He only now realized that he was unintentionally hugging himself into Cassandra's perfectly shaped, mid-sized breasts. Before he could even attempt to look for excuses though, the other woman had already grabbed his ear and started to pull him away from Cassandra. "Tonight, I'll make sure to explain to you why _my_ chest is the better one..." She whispered, holding his head right next to her head as she smirked seductively at him, lightly slapping his cheeks. "If you behave, that is..." Cassandra could almost see his arousal manifest.

She could only laugh at what just transpired. _I'll come back… For sure…_ With that thought, she started to walk away from the throne room. She had to prepare.

* * *

Not even half an hour later, Cassandra was fully dressed again and on her way to the dungeons. She could feel the familiar weight of her lightly armored clothes and the sword on her back, providing her with sense of comfort the likes of which only Velvet could reproduce. She was from a tribe of warriors after all. She was simply not complete without her weapon… Or her lover beside her. Now, she had both of those things, so there was noting that could make her happier given the situation. "So, what are we here for?" Velvet asked, cracking her knuckles as she walked past dozens of cells filled with prisoners. Most no longer had any fight in them after the interrogators were done with them, but some still looked at her and Cassandra with anger and hate in their eyes. Not that either of them cared about opinions of a bunch of corrupt bureaucrats, foreign spies and bosses of criminal underworld. "Going to try squeezing something out of the saboteur again?"

"Yeah, I have to at least try. He created whatever is in there and rigged the Archive's defenses against us after all. What better source of info can we find?"

"Maybe so, but no one was able to get anything useful out of him. Just more rambling about the Empire heading towards its own doom." She sighed. "And to think he was the wisest man of the Empire since times of the first Emperor. He even created the Shingus the former Emperor wanted… Shame they all got sealed away god knows where though. Some were really nice weapons..."

"I know he'll likely not say anything, but it's better to try then feel sorry later." Xardas – a prodigy in all fields of science ever since he was but a young student in Imperial Academy. The amount of discoveries and advancements he has attached to his name was frankly staggering and a source of both respect and jealousy from all that surrounded him. Personally, Cassandra never got along with the man and often butted heads with him which inevitably ended in him making fool of her every time things got heated. She did respect his vast knowledge, but just couldn't get over his personality. Something most would agree was not among his good characteristics.

He always seemed like a loyal servant of the Empire though. He had trust of the Emperor on his side and many privileges that came with his position. By all means, the man was Emperor's most trusted advisor, save for only the Prime Minister. The news of his sudden betrayal were therefore unexpected to say the least. Without anyone realizing, he had used his free access to the Archives and did something to the Danger Beast guards that he himself created. They went crazy and started to attack everyone save for him. He had even activated all of the traps in the Archive on top of that.

General Gavin was leading the fifth attempt at reclaiming the Imperial Archive and thus far the most crippling blow Xardas' actions have brought to the Empire. And Cassandra was going to make sure he pays for it. Dearly.

Moving down to the lowest part of the dungeon, one reserved for the most important of prisoners, they approached the last cell in the hallway. The only one with a guard posted next to it. Neither of the two women could see his face because of the helmet covering it, but both could definitely hear him gulp as he saw them. "Ma'am?"

"Open the cell for us." Cassandra said in a commanding tone. Guard only nodded and hastily did what he was asked. "Stay outside." She said as she pushed the heavy steel framed door open, immediately focusing her gaze on the old man sitting behind a wooden table with his hands tied in front of him. His wrinkled face covered in bruises, some fairly fresh, not older then an hour. The room was filled with smell of his feces and piss, a staple for the prison block he was in. The clothes he wore were nothing but rugs by now, completely destroyed from the beating and torture he was subjected to since his imprisonment, completely stained with his blood and barely held together. Yet despite the miserable state he was in, the old man still had it in him to grin as he saw the two women enter.

"Cassandra… Velvet… How can I help you?" It really took all self control Velvet had to not activate Lionelle and rip that grin off of his face. Along with his head.

"You know why we're here." Cassandra threw the table into the wall as she approached him, shattering it into splinters. She then grabbed his neck and lifted him up to her level with casual ease. "You're going to tell us how to stop what you started." He met her death-cold gaze with a mocking smirk.

"I've already... told you... all… I have… to say..." He was clearly struggling to keep on breathing. Especially since he was over 100 years old. Cassandra was actually surprised he didn't fall apart like a sand castle the moment she touched him. And furthermore, he never stopped mocking her with that smirk and the way he kept looking at her with those white eyes of his. Always looking down on her, regardless of his position… She wasn't going to take any more of it. This time, there were no rules to stop her from expressing how she really feels about that damn old fuck. Hell, she could probably kill him and no one would come to her complaining. He was due to be executed anyways.

Not letting up her ice cold glare for even a second, Cassandra slammed the man into the wall, precisely calculating how much strength she uses to make it hurt more then anything. She could hear his ribs cracking as he screamed out in pain – a music to her ears, one she didn't even realize she wanted to hear. "Then I guess I'm just going to enjoy myself." She was by no means proficient in torture, but dealing pain was hardly difficult to someone with even basic understanding of human body. 'Intact bones are good, broken bones bad' and such.

She proceeded to snap the old man's bones and beat him into a bloody pulp, turning the once highly regarded scholar into a quivering mess. She was sure it was extremely painful, but somehow despite every breath bringing him more agony, he was still smiling, still looking down on her. "Was that really necessary?" Velvet asked, before Cassandra could get back to it. "We don't exactly have a permission to kill him just like that, you know..."

"I do... It's just that..." Velvet lightly placed her hand on Cassandra's shoulder, gently grabbing her by the hand. "...Thanks." Velvet almost smiled at that. Comforting her lover always made her feel exceptionally good about herself. Though she sure as hell was not going to show it. Cassandra always teases her when she does.

A dark chuckle suddenly sounded through the cell, immediately making both women turn towards Xardas again. "You're afraid... Aren't you Cassandra?" He somehow managed to sit straight with his back against the wall. "You've always reacted to what you don't understand with violence." He chuckled again. "No wonder this Empire is heading towards its end..." Cassandra proceeded to step on his broken knee, letting her heel to dig into flesh. "You want to know, don't you? Very well... I'll tell you. It's not like you will live long enough to do anything with it..." He looked straight into her eyes, completely dropping his mad grin. "The Empire you claim to defend is dying Cassandra. And the people you defend are the ones that will strangle it."

Her gaze sharpened. "Bold words for a dirty traitor." She moved her leg away from his knee and proceeded to stab the heel into his shoulder instead, pushing him against the wall. "The Empire is prospering like it never did before, the people are happy and alliances strong. What makes you think the Empire is about to be ruined?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the ruin will arrive anytime soon... But it will. It always does when humanity is involved." His eyes darkened as Cassandra felt her instincts flaring up. "We are truly a broken race, Cassandra. I give the Empire no more then 300 years before its decay results in it's collapse. The corruption will run rampant, people will die on mass in pain and misery... I can already see the seeds of what is to come being planted. The prosperity you speak of is nothing more then fuel for greed to take hold. It's only a matter of time before the noble clans start to reach for more then they should. Before they start to reach for power they don't deserve. The Honest clan for once is a likely candidate for becoming a catalyst of it all. Young noble clan, disregarded by others, and yet slowly gathering more and more power... Sooner or later, a true monster will be born, a tyrant that will run this nation into the ground for his own gain. Just like it always happens. All great nations crumble sooner or lager, burned in flames of revolutions and buried in human greed. This cycle was repeated more times then you can imagine girl. And it will continue to repeat itself long after your precious Empire is nothing but dust and ruins... Unless..." Cassandra couldn't help but anticipate an attack. Her senses were s reaming at her, yet she couldn't locate the source of that sensation.

It wasn't long before she got her answer though. As soon as she focused on Xardas again, she could feel his malice and killing intent focused on her like a laser burning into her head. "Unless someone stops it all!" To both Cassandra's and Velvet's great surprise, the old man suddenly got back on his feet as if nothing happened to him and sent his fist flying towards Cassandra's face. Even despite feeling the danger beforehand, she was so shocked to find that the old man she all but tore apart moments before was its source that the punch reached her before she reacted, sending her flying straight through the wall, back into the dungeon's corridor.

The attack was strong. Freakishly so. No normal man of his age should be able to deal so much damage, especially considering what she did to him. The shock of it actually happening didn't last long though. Her sharp instincts quickly kicked into higher gear as she steadied herself mid-fly and landed on her legs, instantly ready to engage in a fight. She quickly analyzed the situation before her. After punching her out of the room, she had broken through the wall right where the guard was standing. The she could see blood coming out of the back of his head but couldn't tell if the wound was fatal now as she had to quickly divert her attention somewhere else.

Back in the cell, Xardas was already on his way to attack Velvet. The other women however, while also surprised by his sudden by the development, had just enough time to react. As soon as the old man's hand started to approach her, she pushed it aside with her own, immediately sending a powerful kick towards his chest. He quickly jumped into the air, using the ceiling to push himself back towards her, aiming to smash her head with his foot. Velvet was quick to get out of the harm's way. Her body started to twist and bend in ways possible only for a Rakshasa Demon, even a former one. One's body simply does not forget the kind of training required to move like that. Never. She quickly wrapped her leg around Xardass', using it as a leverage and moving right behind him.

He had no way of reacting when she quickly sent a powerful kick his way. The man was immediately thrown out of the cell through the same hallway Cassandra made because of him, right where the tall woman was waiting with her sword in hand. With one lightning quick swing, she severed his head from the rest of his body as he flew by her. She didn't even have a scratch on her after being smashed through the wall by him. "So much for not killing him..." She muttered under her breath, putting her blade inside the sheath on her back.

Cassandra then looked at Velvet who was approaching her. "What the hell was that..." She said, rubbing her aching bones. Just because her body was still more then capable of doing what it was trained for, doesn't mean it enjoys it. She has left the four Demons for a reason after all.

Cassandra turned back towards the immobile body of the old man. She could see that the soldier she was thrown into was waking up, scratching his head and groaning in pain. "Are you alright?" She started to approach him, holding her hand out to help him get back on his feet. But she didn't get a chance to. Just before she made the final step, the feeling of danger suddenly returned. She immediately jumped away, only barely managing to avoid getting impaled on a hand that just shot out of the guard's chest. The man screamed out in pain as he drew his final breath, soon falling motionlessly on the ground as his attacker rose back on his feet.

"I'm very sorry girl, but that is simply not going to suffice..." Xardas said. His head was dangling from a tentacle that connected to the rest of his body for a few more seconds before being put back on its place. Wasting no time Velvet rushed back to him, throwing a punch aimed at his chest that he met with his own. In the end though, the woman's hand was far stronger, and shattered Xardas' bones like a pack of matches. She then grabbed him by the neck with her other hand and threw against the wall. He hit the stone bricks with a loud thud, cracking the wall's surface with the strength of the impact along with his rib cage. She was still not done though. Not letting up the offensive, Velvet swung her leg at her opponent's head, aiming to smash it to bits. "Foolish girl..."

Right before her leg made contact with his face, the man's eye started to shine with a purple glow. She realized she is in danger in an instant, even if she had no idea what was it's nature. Immediately, she halted her attack and attempted to get out of the way as an energy beam shot out of Xardas' eye. She was forced to contort her body again to avoid the attack, but the beam still managed to pierce her leg. Not knowing what else to expect, she fell back, barely letting out more then a hiss at her injury. "Was that... A Teigu? That can't be..." She has never heard of one like that, and neither has Cassandra. It definitely felt like one though.

"Why, yes. It is in fact a Teigu. Is it so hard to believe that I -the man responsible for the creation of all Shingus- have eventually managed to create weapon to match a Teigu?" He chuckled at them. "Allow me to introduce to you my most advanced creation..." His eye started to glow again. "The Eye of Judgment – Tazeron!" He immediately shot his beam at them. Velvet who was standing in front of Cassandra, has immediately dodged aside to avoid the attack, yet the other woman merely moved her head slightly.

"A Teigu you say... And pray tell, how did you manage to gain the necessary materials? Teigus were made from Ultra-class Danger Beasts, which are long gone and as you said yourself once, Shingus couldn't match Teigus because of the lacking materials. Even if you somehow managed to find one still alive, I doubt you would be able to prepare the manpower necessary to take it down in secret from me."

"A surprisingly good question from someone like you." She almost felt as if he spat in her face. "And I will gladly enlighten you. You see, I _have_ found an Ultra-class Beast still alive. I have not killed it though. Never even thought about it. I joined it instead. And it gave me a purpose..." His hand reached for the side of his face, touching his Teigu. "What I said before was not merely my prediction. It was the future. A vision she showed me that only confirmed my suspicions. I saw this country rot under foot of a tyrant. I saw people suffer unimaginable injustice at the hands of those meant to protect them. I saw children made into killers, soldiers punished for not spreading evil of their superiors, slums filled with poor, villages pushed into poverty, crime running rampant on the streets and discrimination against people we now call our allied. I saw this country burn in flames of revolution... And I saw nothing change. The revolution will be long and bloody, but before long another tyrant will arise and start the cycle again." He suddenly fired at her again, this time forcing her to duck.

"She showed me the future, Cassandra. And she is the only one that can stop it. My queen will cure this world. Purify our race!" He attacked again, firing one time after the other. "She gave me strength to be her champion! To guide her to domination over this world!" Seeing Cassandra dodge all of his attacks casually, he rushed forward, ready to strike with his full power. "And the time has come! Your death will mark the beginning of new order, Cassandra!"

His fist moved so fast that by the time it reached her face it was the air around it was starting to catch fire, sending a shockwave throughout the hallway that almost pushed Velvet away the moment it hit it's mark. "W-Wha..." Cassandra wasn't even fazed though. Xardas' strongest strike was met with her open palm, barely even registering as an attack. The women didn't move an inch, just stood still and for once, she was the one looking down on him. "How are you still-!?" Cassandra's hand was suddenly engulfed in flames, and so was his. He immediately backed away, groaning in pain as his hand outright melt from the heat.

"I assure you Xardas... _You are the fool here._ " She moved her hand over to her face, watching as the flames danced on her skin before closing her fist to put them down. The old man's hand quickly grew back, but the damage done to his pride was irreparable. The woman he's been looking down upon ever since she was brought to the Empire as a mere teenager, was now staring at him as if he was the insignificant bug here, barely worth her attention even after displaying his strength. Her gaze held a flame within it. A blazing hate that he could feel throughout his body; hate and anger directed at him that she was holding for all those years of mockery and shame she suffered from at his hand. Immediately after his hand grew back, Xardas fired off from his eye, aiming straight at Cassandra's head. Despite the speed with which the energy beam traveled towards her, Cassandra reacted faster, reaching her hand to her sword and letting the beam touch its tip. The man could only stare in amazement as the attack that should easily melt through even the hardest of metals did nothing to her blade, save for heating it up a bit.

"H-how-!?" He suddenly felt the heated tip slash at his cheek. He didn't even see her move move an inch from her spot, all he saw was his own blood suddenly appearing on her blade's tip.

"If a Teigu battle is what you want so badly... Then that's exactly what you will get!" She twirled her sword in her hand as flames started to engulf it. The flames slowly started to spread out on her arm and her long hair turned from white to red, shortly catching fire as well. She stabbed her blade into the ground, finally calling for her Teigu to appear. " **Incursio!** " An explosion of fire completely blinded the old man and forced to back away once he realized the heat is melting his skin off. This was the first time he witnessed the legendary armor being summoned by her, finally realizing why she is known as the Empire's Fire Demon. Incursio – the armor that adapts to its users, changing for each one to suit their needs... No one before Cassandra has managed to awaken the flames of the Demon Armor before as far as he knows, but as much as his mind always wished to study it, his pride would not let him. She was nothing but a worm that wiggled its way into the royal family with brute strength while her sister did the same with her loins.

He could never accept that. They were just given what he had worked for ever since he was a child. People called him a prodigy, a natural genius, but he was neither of those. He was just willing to put in the effort all those other worthless bugs wouldn't. And while he spent all of his days on his studies, hoping to one day be noticed by people above, these two just came to the Empire and received everything he had to earn on a silver platter. And he was never truly acknowledged on top of that. Yes, they did praise his intellect and wisdom, but no matter what he accomplished, it was never enough. He was tasked with creating weapons to match the Teigus, weapons that took hundreds of experts from many fields and materials that could never be obtained again... Him. Just one man. From the start there was no way he would be able to match the craftsmanship of those weapons, but he still did his absolute best, hoping that the effort he put in will be appreciated only for his creations to be called a disappointment and thrown away like garbage.

But then, he met _her_.

While he was simply strolling though the forest, not really thinking about anything but relaxing away from the city walls, he saw her. The most beautiful creature he had ever laid his eyes on. She whispered to him, talked to him. She showed him the future the Empire was being led to and finally appreciated what he had done for all of its people despite them never bothering to thank him for any of it. And she ultimately, gave him the tool he needed to finally match the weapons that hunted his every waking moment ever since his Shingus were met with looks of disappointment.

She gave him the purpose to keep going, to work even harder. To help her save humanity from self destruction, and the Empire along with it. To achieve that, he offered her a new home in the Empire's Archive where she will start her efforts to change humanity as a whole once the time comes. And the time is near. No oversized black brute of a women was going to stop him from watching as the world is being reborn.

As soon as the flames that surrounded her started to disappear, she emerged from between them, now clad in her silver armor from head to toes. The scale-like plates tightly hugged her body but restricted no movements while the heels that were now on her feet only made her look higher then she already is. In her hand she still held her sword – Incursio's key. Her hair were sticking out from the back of the helmet that covered her face, still covered in hot flames. He couldn't see her eyes now, but could still feel the fire burning in them. "I promise, this is the end for you. And your 'Queen' will be next." His expression twisted with anger. He immediately was forced to jump away as she rushed at him, swinging her sword down at him. She still managed to cut a deep wound on his chest. Wound which immediately caught fire. "It would seem that your regeneration powers don't do so well with fire. Good to know, especially since you already told me your powers come from your bitch in the Archive. I'll make sure to give her a very hot greeting to our Empire."

"You will not get to see her... You will die here!" His eye suddenly turned completely black as he fired several beams from it at once. Some were coming straight towards her, others passed behind only to turn around. In the end, all of them hit her at once, but she didn't bother to dodge or block any. She stood there even as the explosion of energy surrounded her, because she simply knew there is nothing he can do to harm her. Before the glow of the explosion even disappeared, she rushed behind him, so fast that for the first few seconds after seeing the spot she stood in empty, he didn't even realize. For a split second before smashing her flame covered fist into his face, she saw as his expression turns from anger into realization. Realization of just how strong she really is.

He flew past Velvet, who was just watching the events unfold with her arms crossed in front of her, straight back to his cell's back wall. "You know, I actually used to look up to you a lot when I came here..." Cassandra said as she reentered the cell, watching as he struggles to regenerate the blazing hole left by his missing lower jaw.

"Back then I thought very little of man, my tribe was mostly women after a plague killed most of our man years ago and made it difficult for boys to be born. They were treated so special ever since being born it just made me sick. I get why it became like that; with only one out of ten newborn boys surviving the aftereffects of the plague a healthy male being born is important for the tribe's survival, but... When I looked at those pathetic, lazy, pieces of shit, surrounded by no less then 5 women at any given time, each serving their every wish, it just made me sick. When I saw Gavin I thought he was just like that too, but when he offered to help me on a hunting trip in exchange for a place to stay, he proved me wrong, showed me that he's different... He showed the first how different man from outside can be. And once he brought me and my sister here, I met the Emperor, man who carried a whole nation's weight on his back even though he could drown himself in riches his predecessors gained. He might have been born into the position he was in, but he never used it as an excuse to take it easy, rather a responsibility that weighted on his family. I saw him work himself unconscious more times then I can count. And then... I met you. The one man that worked his way up from the very bottom with nothing but his own two hands and an oversized brain. I admired you... I really did. You are the one that finally allowed me to abandon the view of man I held back home... You have no idea how disappointed I was when it turned that the man I was admiring so much turned out to be the same attention hungry piece of trash I thought I'll never see again. You are Emperor's most trusted advisor right after the Prime Minister himself, widely acknowledged as the man who renovated the Capital after centuries of neglect and on top of that, the creator of Shingus. You think that nobody cares about them? I honestly wish the previous Emperor was still alive so I can smack that prideful moron in the head for sealing them off Gods know where. They were fine weapons that could turn the tide of many battles, even if they were not Teigus. Every commander in the army told him to not do it, and to this day people are looking for the vault he sealed them in, because _we all_ know how much those weapons are really worth. And you still want more then that? That's still not enough for you? Does all of that mean so little to you that you would sell yourself out to a damn Danger Beast for some nice words and an eye that can't even make a dent in my armor? This thing is pathetic work of an attention starved child that forgot to put some heart into it. A worthless toy for you to play with while your 'Queen' destroys the humanity as we know it if you are any indication of what she wants to do with us. Honestly, the Shingus were far superior weapons. This doesn't even belong in the league under them, let alone with Teigus."

Xardas' face grew more and more red from anger with every word she spoke yet he couldn't say anything with his jaw burning away faster then he can recover it. He proceeded to growl angrily as he fired at her again, not stopping the assault even after it reached Cassandra's chest. The energy beam slowly started to grow in size, but the women didn't even move an inch. She just stood there as she was being completely engulfed in the energy. Xardas' eye soon turned black again while blood started to come from under it. He didn't stop though, even though pain was ripping his head to shreds with its sheer intensity. Before he knew it though, the pain disappeared, only to immediately be replaced with another one. This one was worse, and he quickly realized why. His eye, his Teigu was gone. "Aaaaaaaaaa!" He screamed in pain, holding onto a hole in his eye socket. Cassandra meanwhile just stood over him, holding his blood covered Teigu in her hand, looking at it. "My queen… My queen…" He tried to crawl his way back to Cassandra, but as soon as he tried to move, Velvet stomped on his hand, turning it into bloody mush and drawing more pained screams from him. As she watched him, she realized he is no longer regenerating. Whatever that 'Teigu' of his was, it was probably the source of that ability. With it gone, he was just an old man again. And he will bleed out in no time.

As Cassandra inspected the eye, she quickly realized that the it's still watching her. The iris kept following her, analyzing every move. "Whatever you are, better get ready. Because you have hell coming your way." She promptly turned the eye to ashes in her hand, turning her attention back to Xardas as she dropped them in front of him. He looked at them for a second before looking up at her with tears and blood covering his face. She didn't even let him speak, simply stabbing her sword into his chest. He didn't even scream as his body was covered in flames, soon reduced to nothing but charred statue. "Hmph..." Cassandra quickly turned away from his remains, looking at the damage his last attack left behind. There was a hole in wall at the end of the dungeon large enough for her to go through without lowering her head and reaching all the way out of the palace. It was no doubt visible to half of the Capital, so she could expect people coming down here to investigate soon. "Come on Vel. Let's go. We have to get ready to move out into the Archive tomorrow." She said as the Demon Armor's flames started to disappear, soon followed by the armor itself. As Velvet looked at her, she saw that the women didn't even break a sweat.

* * *

"Damn, I'm beat." Cassandra exhaled loudly as she dropped onto her bed head-first.

"Stop complaining. It was just some paper work." Velvet sat next to her, hissing in pain from which spread through her shoulder. Without a word, Cassandra rose back on her feet and took of Velvet's night gown, motioning her to lie down. She sighed and did just that, soon feeling Cassandra's warm hands on her back. "This is just getting worse and worse… Think I'm growing old?" She moaned quietly as her lover started to slowly massage her pained body.

Cassandra only chuckled at that. "You're only 28. That's hardly old no matter how you look at it." It was weird though. Most Rakasha Demons start to experience symptoms like that only if they make it to 50, when most are relieved from active duty and replaced with fresh blood. Velvet's body showed signs of decline long before that, and she had to step down from her position faster then any Rakusha did before her. Ignoring those who have died in action at least. Doctors couldn't find any root cause other then her body's condition simply degrading faster then usual, which combined with the extremes to which she would usually push it to, resulted in the pains she was dealing with now. Becoming the new user of Lionelle has definitely helped with all this, but there was only so much that it could heal. "And you're still the prettiest woman in the whole palace." She kissed her cheek, bringing a small blush to Velvet's face that she immediately tried to hide with a pillow. This only encouraged Cassandra to tease her a bit more, and so she proceeded to slide her hands down to her naked butt, squeezing it lightly. She felt a slight twitch coming from Velvet's muscles, resulting in a small smile appearing on her lips that only grew when she glanced back at her face. She was looking at her with anticipation in her eyes and blush that now reached all the way to her ears. Even though as soon as Velvet realized she's looking she turned away without a word, Casandra already knew that the woman wants the same thing she does – to finish what was stared this morning.

"Just get this over with and let's go to sleep… W-We have job to do tomorrow..." Her initial reluctance to give in to her desires was always so adorable… And very enjoyable to slowly break apart.

"Hmmm… You like my massages so much then?" She didn't answer, simply pulled the pillow harder against her face. "Well, How can I say no then… I'll just let myself… Spice things up a bit." Before she knew it, Velvet had Cassandra's naked breasts pressed hard against her back. She managed only a muffled yelp, with no words actually spoken, not even when Cassandra started moving her chest up and down. Slowly. "Do you like it, Vel?" She whispered into her ear, biting it lightly. Velvet still didn't respond, but with the way her body was shaking and the quiet moans released into the pillow, it was clear that she's enjoying it. Cassandra allowed her arms to travel along her side, soon sliding them down to reach her chest. This time, Velvet's reaction was more definite. She twitched from the touch, pushing against Cassandra with her back as she moaned loudly, rising her head from the pillow just a bit. And that bit was enough for Cassandra to seize the moment. She immediately captured Velvet's lips with her own, pushing her tongue past her lips and holding her head in place with her hand. Velvet moaned in surprise but made no move to stop her.

The two soon melted into each other. Velvet lied on her back and hugged Casandra close to her as the other woman pushed her down against the bed. Velvet wasn't having any of it though. Her hand quickly moved to the back of Cassandra's head and she grabbed a handful of her white hair. She pulled on it hard, forcing the woman to move her head back and allow Velvet to place her lips against the nape of her neck. Cassandra only smile at that, happy that Velvet finally got into it. The smile quickly disappeared though, overwritten by her loud moan as Velvet's teeth sunk into her skin. She was quickly thrown down on the bed, with Velvet not letting go of her neck until the moment Cassandra was nothing more then a submissive doll. Just the way she likes it.

It was hours before they finally decided they've had enough for the night and proceeded to lie down in each other's arms and simply bask in each other's presence. Balancing between sleep and consciousness, Velvet slowly and gently run her hand over Cassandra's butt cheek, almost as if apologizing to it for the abuse she brought upon it and… All of Cassandra. There was no need for it though. The woman knew very well how aggressive Velvet can get in bed, and it hardly bothered her by now. Quite the opposite, she loved every second of it. Still, it was hard for Velvet to just accept that with just how many partners have left her because of that. Cassandra was the first that not only would let her go all out, but also could take it. She did not want to lose her to something so stupid as her sick fetishes.

They've been together for over two years now, spending almost every night on having sex, but she still couldn't get rid of the feeling that one day, Cassandra will simply get fed up with satisfying her desires and leave her just like every other man and women she was with did. Even ones that actually enjoyed that stuff couldn't take it after a while. "Hey… Are you asleep yet?" She felt a light bite on her neck. It was enough of a response to her. "I… Have something for you..." Truth be told, she was going to save that for a later date, with the whole ordeal with the Archive it seemed better to wait for things to calm down before but… Thinking about things made her want to do it now.

She slipped out of Cassandra's embrace and moved over to her nightstand at the side of the bed. Cassandra rose to a sitting position as she watched Velvet move things around the mess that was only rivaled by the one the short woman kept in her purse. As collected and mindful of her duties as she was, maintaining order in her belongings was not one of Velvet's virtues. Cassandra herself could only scratch her head when she was asked to find something in the garbage pile that she calls her wardrobe. Hence why they have to keep their belongings separately. It was just easier that way. For Cassandra at least.

To general's surprise though, it only took a short while for her to find what she was looking for. _Weird... It always takes her a while..._ It was almost as if she already knew precisely where to look for it. She could easily spot a bright blush on Velvet's cheeks as she closed her fingers around the object, preventing her from looking at it. "Okay, so... I know I'm a pain in the ass to deal with most of the time... Quite literally if I am to be honest... A-And I just thought... That I should p-probably thank you for staying with me despite how I am... S-So I made this for you." She held her hand out towards her. "H-Hope you like it..." Slowly, Cassandra moved her hand over to Velvet's and as soon as she could, dropped the object into Cassandra's palm. Object that turned out to be a necklace. Or rather, a locket as Cassandra quickly realized while looking at the beautifully decorated silver two-part disc hanging from the chain. Smiling like a love-struck teenager she suddenly felt herself turning into, she opened the locket only to be greeted with a miniature painting of herself and Velvet.

It wasn't a widely known fact, only reserved to a small circle of people Velvet was close to, but the woman enjoyed painting in her spare time. She was actually very good at it, enough so that if she wasn't so embarrassed by it, she would probably become extremely famous for her art. The small painting she was seeing now was without a doubt Velvet's work, and definitely her best one yet considering how much details she managed to put on such a small surface. It was almost a photograph, just colored as opposed to black and white. Probably took a lot more effort then the size would suggest too. The locket itself was probably at least in part a work of her father and mother, a blacksmith and jeweler respectively.

"W-Well? Do you like it?" She asked as if she couldn't see Cassandra's wide smile.

She got a playful chuckle in response. "I love it, Vel... And actually have something for you too." She put the necklace on and immediately slid her hand under the mattress. This was one of her hiding spots for things she didn't want Velvet to see. There were others spread around the room, behind furniture, hidden under the floor and such, all meant to store things like gifts she planned to give and other things Velvet wasn't suppose to know about or even see. She is far below her in military ranking after all. Meanwhile, all Velvet needed to do to hide something from Cassandra was to simply place it in one of her garbage piles that Cassandra didn't even bother to look at on her own. "I was going to save it for later too but... I feel like this is the right moment."

Soon enough, she pulled her hand back out with a small black box now resting in the palm of her hand. Somewhere in the back of Velvet's head, something clicked, but that train of thoughts didn't manage to reach its target before Cassandra smiled brightly and opened the box, holding it out to her. Inside was a wooden ring, decorated with silver, carved from Iron Tree native to Cassandra's homeland. An incredibly hard wood, almost as much as actual iron. "Will you marry me?"

Velvet didn't answer, staring at the ring for a long while before suddenly a tear started to run down her cheek. Before it even fell on the bed though, Cassandra was already pinned down to the bed with Velvet's mouth tightly sealing hers.

In the end, the night for them lasted a few more hours.

* * *

"General." Cassandra turned to the voice, ripping her gaze away from the raising sun. "Everyone is ready to move out." Velvet said, standing with her back straight and wearing her set of light, loose armor, one she used to wear as a Rakasha. On close inspection, Cassandra spotted the ring she gave her on her right hand. She could only smile at that as she lowered herself down to Velvet's level and kissed her lovingly, melting away the serious expression on former Demon's face.

When she pulled away, she was met with a pink blush adoring her face and dreamy, half-lifted eyes. "Well, let's not keep them waiting." They both stepped back into the palace, returning to the group Cassandra decided to take with her to the Archive. It was composed of 200 people, all elite soldiers, handpicked and trained by her personally. Each was strong enough to take on an Earth Dragon without issue. One of them was also a Teigu user and a likely candidate for a next General. With General Gavin dead, Emperor was bound to search for someone to take up the role in his place soon, and the man was definitely going to get her recommendation. He was already high in the chain of command within her personal army and among her most trusted people. In fact, if Velvet was Cassandra's right hand, then he was her left. "Hey, Akemi!" She called out to him as soon as she spotted him at the very back of the group.

He turned to face them, unsurprisingly to both, he had his face stuffed with snacks. He had so much food in his mouth he actually reminded them of a chipmunk. "What whis whit (what is it)?" He said, not bothering to swallow or even stop shoving food into his mouth. Despite how ridiculous he looks now, his normal appearance is actually quite serious and often outright frightening to some. Long black hair, piercing red eyes, stone cold glare and near-expressionless face... If he really wanted to she was sure he could be giving people heart attacks just by looking at them.

"For fucks sake, learn to eat you damn pig!" He looked at Velvet confused for a second before seemingly experiencing a sudden moment of enlightenment. Cassandra could swear she saw a light bulb lit up above his head as he pointed his half empty box of cookies towards Velvet. "No! I don't mean you should start sharing! I'm just saying you need to learn some fucking table manners!"

He seemed even more confused, but this time he swallowed before speaking. "So you don't want any?" Velvet could only sigh at that but reached out into the box and grabbed one cookie anyways. He then pointed the box to Cassandra who also took one. After that he proceeded to spill the rest into his mouth all at once and munch on them loudly. "Sho are whe gowing tho mofe out now (so are we going to move out now)? This time Velvet didn't react, at least not verbally. She still shot him an angry glare as she was eating her cookie. He ended up swallowing quickly. Not because of her. "I believe we should move out as soon as possible before the others grow any more anxious." General looked back at the group spread throughout the chamber. They were all the best Empire had to offer in terms of conventional force, but underneath their uniforms and armor they wore, all were still normal people with lives and families waiting for them. Knowing that a General many of them admired deeply has already perished trying to combat what they will be facing was hardly making them feel safe about their chances of making it back.

Still, none would back away from the task, and Cassandra knew about it perfectly. That's why she chose them to accompany her. After all, even though death of General Gavin filled their hearts with fear of this new opponent, it also filled them with anger and desire for vengeance. And those simple, primal feelings were not to be underestimated. "Everyone!" She called out. For a split second, she could see some of them grinning in anticipation. "Gather your toys, boys. It's time to move out and get thing done. As always." They started to move around the chamber, getting off their resting spots to pick up their weapons and adjusting their gear. Within less then a minute, all 200 of them were armed and ready to go. Cassandra smiled at that as she turned towards the gate leading ingside. "After me!" Velvet and Akemi stayed at her sides. The man had put on a black mask over his head, an old family heirloom, same as his armor and coat he wore over it. All black naturally. The coat reached all the way down to his ankles, covering his legs. The armor it covered was made of hardened skin that tightly hugged his body and reinforced with though scales of a Danger Beast it was made of. The most visually noteworthy part of the whole thing was definitely the helmet though. It covered the wearer's whole face, leaving only small, slits for the user to retain some eyesight, but at the same time force him to rely on other senses instead. Through those slits, one could occasionally see his red eyes, almost glowing from the darkness that shrouded his face.

Supposedly, it was quite a terrifying sight at night.

The whole set was awarded to his family by the first Emperor himself as a sign of honor and compensation for the sacrifice his ancestor made fighting in his name. He was the man who managed to bring down the Tyrant after all, and paid the ultimate price as a result of using his weapon. The armor they received was made from the Tyrant's body, just as her own Teigu was. It was nowhere near level of a Teigu, and had no special abilities, but it was still extremely durable and supposedly, could even to an extant counter the effects of the curse that killed both the Tyrant and the one who defeated it. The curse of One-Cut Killer, Murasame. The very same blade that was strapped to Akemi's back. Blade that was almost exclusively kept in his family as well. She didn't know if there is any truth in this rumor as the last time anyone has used Murasame's Trump Card was centuries ago, and Akemi was the first one deemed worthy to use the blade in generations.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen you around much lately." Velvet said as they marched through the palace. "Where have you..." She trailed off, almost slapping her face when she saw him holding another box of cookies while in the middle of biting into one already. Where he pulled that out of, she didn't know, and didn't want to.

Luckily for her, this time he swallowed before speaking. "I was sent of to play a bodyguard for Honest clan." He shoved another cookie into his mouth and devoured it almost instantly. "Not what I would call a fulfilling work, but the Emperor was worried they might be planning something dirty so he started to spread rumors about someone planning to kill them. I was supposed to investigate them as much as possible. Still, I didn't like being there. The old Honest was… A creep."

"Ah, yes… I remember your families being at odds with one another." Cassandra joined in, not turning her head to either of them. "Their household is in the other side of the Empire though. Did you take your family with you?"

"Yeah, but I think I shouldn't have. We own an old mansion in the area, so they didn't have to be there with me, but on the few occasions they were there..." He paused for a moment, just long enough for Cassandra to feel some Killing Intent emanating from him. "The old Honest was giving my daughter strange looks… I didn't like that..."

"Well, have you found anything?" Velvet asked, sharing a short eye contact with Cassandra. They both still remembered very clearly what Xardas has said a day before.

"No… Though I wish I had. I could feel something was wrong with these people, something very… sinister… I'm sure they're hiding something, I just couldn't find anything to prove it. Emperor ordered me to pull back a week ago before they could start getting suspicious. I actually came back to the Capital yesterday, around the time the 'fireworks' started." Velvet raised an eyebrow, questioningly. "I mean the giant laser that flew out of the Palace."

"Alright you two, that's enough of talking for now. We can continue this later." Cassandra said, making a mental note to start taking a closer look at Honest Clan's actions. "We're here." She halted in place, right in front of the barricaded gate leading into the archive. Two elite palace guards stood on each side like metal statues. They were informed beforehand that she will be arriving and upon seeing her and her man approaching, immediately started to prepare the gate to be opened. Cassandra patiently waited for them to finish as she focused on the sounds around her. Her man were quiet, making final preparations before the fighting starts.

And then, as soon as the lock on the gate was brought down, Cassandra kicked them open and entered inside. She was met with deep darkness that shrouded the whole area and angry growls of Danger Beasts that surrounded her. Immediately, she solved both problems as she summoned Incursio, burning the surrounding danger Beasts and bringing light into the area. Akemi and Velvet rushed in right after her, both with their Teigus ready to use. Murasame was quickly stained with blood as Akemi's lightning quick slashes left one Beast after another as immobile corpse, some slashed into pieces, others lightly cut across their bodies and left for the curse to finish. Velvet has activated Lionelle, turning her hands into sharp claws that she immediately used to tear open throats of a couple of Beasts. Her arms and legs were soon covered in black fur and her eyes formed vertical slits that easily pierced the darkness surrounding them. She proceeded to jump right into the group of approaching Danger Beasts, only to smash her hand into the ground sending both debris and some of the smaller Beasts flying away. Some of those that were closest to her outright lost consciousness after the shock wave hit them while the rest was finished off by the rest of Cassandra's man. They all rushed in right after the three, with spear- and swordsman that carried shields at the forefront and group of crossbowman right behind them. Every single one of them had a small lamp attached to their armor, lighting the way for them.

As soon as they've entered the scene, they formed a circle around the entrance, making sure nothing gets past them while the two guards close the gate behind them. It was hardly a problem for Cassandra, Akemi and Velvet though. The three of them were more then capable of reducing the number of opponents to nearly zero despite the minimal support. By the time gate was locked again and the rest could join the fight, they had mere leftovers to deal with. They suffered no casualties whatsoever, but that hardly gave then any reassurance. After all, between the bodies of Beasts they've slain, were bodies of those that came there before them. People that were just as skilled as they were. All with their heads removed.

They knew perfectly well that whatever was hiding in the darkness, they only got a small taste of what's to come.

"Cassandra, look." Velvet pointed her hand into the darkness. She was the only one able to see relatively well in the dark, so Cassandra was forced to move closer, with Akemi and the rest of the group following her. She didn't have any lamp strapped to her as the flames dancing on her sword proved to be more then enough. Soon enough, they approached what Velvet was pointing at. A giant ice spiral that formed a way straight up. Cassandra motioned at one of the crossbowman, who only nodded and grabbed one of the bolts he carried. He inserted it in a small oil container he had on him and held it next to Cassandra's sword to ignite it, before loading his weapon and pointing it straight up. He fired without any delay, showing everyone how the spiral seemingly pierces the ceiling of the Archive. "So that's the illusion hiding the Beast Hive, huh? No clue how this thing works..."

"Neither do I..." Cassandra said as she stepped onto the ice. The spiral was large, almost like a tower. The surface wasn't slippery at all though, despite everything being made of ice. She had no doubt that the structure was left here by Gavin himself. Only he could manipulate the ice like that. She sighed and lowered herself down, placing her hand against the ice. It wasn't cold in the slightest, yet didn't show any signs of melting. "Gavin..." She whispered, closing her hand into a fist. A whirlwind of emotions filled her head, but before long she felt Velvet's hand on her shoulder, calming her down in an instant. She smiled as she got up, placing her hand on top of Velvet's head, ruffling her newly acquired cat-ears.

"H-Hey!" She immediately stepped away, covering her ears with her hands and blushing brightly. Laughter quickly reached her as the soldiers behind them burst out laughing. "Shut up guys! I hate it when she does that!"

"Yeah, right! Everyone saw your little 'grooming' session from a week ago!" One of them pointed out as he continued to laugh loudly. There was one person that wasn't laughing though. Akemi did nothing but stare at her, seemingly completely emotionless. Or more precisely, he was staring at her hand. It didn't take him long before approaching her and as soon as he did, he grabbed her hand, the one with the ring Cassandra gave her on it. The group suddenly went silent as they noticed the ring as well. "Is… Is that..." Velvet's blush instantly grew a few shades brighter, but she didn't make a move to hide the ring.

"Ah, that's right." Cassandra approached her from behind, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman's body and pulling her towards herself. "The two of us are getting married. All of you can consider yourself invited." She suddenly kissed Velvet's cheek. Before they both knew it, they were getting bombarded with congratulations from all sides. With Akemi at the forefront, everyone started to wish them happiness and joking about the couple's antics that they all got to witness over the years. Some older soldiers even joked that they should name their first kid after them, despite the obvious problem being in the way of that. "Alright, alright, you guys..." Cassandra said and suddenly jumped into the air, slashing her sword at the air. Or at least, that's what it seemed to most of those below at first. By the time she landed though, they all knew what was going on, as along with her, a dead Danger Beast fell on the ground with one wing cut in half. Akemi immediately proceeded to finish it off. "Break time's over boys." She turned back towards the ice spiral. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

"Aaaaaaaaaaa!" One of the spearman screamed in pain as he was suddenly lifted of the ground by one of the flying Beasts. It flew down so fast that he was unable to raise his shield in time to defend himself from its sharp claws that now sunk into his shoulders. His pained screams were quickly replaced by ones of pure terror though. The Beast had carried him away from the ice spiral and unceremoniously let go of him, leaving him helpless to stop himself from falling down onto the ground, deep below. He wouldn't reach the bottom for a good minute though. The least he could hope for is smashing into one of the lower floors before. At least it would end faster, now that he was already on a straight path to death.

The Beast that did it was quickly shot down by one of the crossbowman who hit it in the wing, but this was the third time this happened. They are surrounded from all sides, with Beasts rushing at them from bottom and top of the spiral simultaneously, while the flying ones circled around, waiting for opportunities to strike. Cassandra was sure they will make it to the top though. They were the best of the best, her elite. They could do anything as long as they've put their mind to it. "Keep pushing! We're almost there!" Slashing her sword at the air she sent a blade of flames cutting through the front row of the Beasts coming from above as a group of spearman run in front of her, forming a line that finished off the rest of approaching Beasts, allowing them to continue on. One the back of the group, Akemi and Velvet have also finished tearing through the group of Beasts that attacked from below, but they could already hear more coming. "Akemi!" Velvet reached her arm out to him. He immediately took it, and was subsequently thrown by the women, straight into the approaching Beasts, with a rope tied to his hand connecting him to Velvet, who held onto a hook attached to the other end.

Akemi spun around, turning himself into a spinning blade that quickly cut down the Beasts. Some were only glazed by Murasame, but that was enough for him. All would die once struck by the One-Cut Killer. As soon as he was at the end of the rope, Velvet pulled him back before he would fall off the spiral, preparing herself for his approach. She placed her hands on the icy ground and extended her legs towards him. Akemi landed on them and was soon propelled forward again as Velvet kicked him all the way back to the front of the group. As soon as he landed, he slid on the ground right between legs of one of the Beasts that were now attacking them from the front again. He cut its stomach open as he passed, spilling its guts on the ground. He quickly got up and started to cut down the other Beasts, dancing around them and slashing his blade at any that came into his range. Looking back he saw Cassandra has joined the crossbowman in getting rid of the flying Beasts, lighting them up with her flames and revealing others for crossbowman to take care of.

Murasame was now drenched in blood from hilt to the tip, as was his armor. They've been fighting like this for at least half an hour and while neither him nor Cassandra and Velvet had problems with that, the continuous fighting was starting to wear on the others. They needed to find a break and allow them to rest, otherwise this whole escapade will end in failure. Even Cassandra wouldn't be able to do it all by herself. Using Incursio is more draining on the user then most other Teigus, and her flames drain that energy even faster then usual. She can take it for a long time, but he's already seen what happens to her when she overdoes it. Last time she did, she was hospitalized for a whole month as her body recovered from exhaustion. It shouldn't be difficult once they manage to get inside of the hive. They will be able to barricade themselves in somewhere and catch their breath.

The place where the spiral connected to the hive was not far away, he could already see the hole General Gavin left in it. It was small, but just large enough for them all to enter with their all gear while at the same time making it difficult for the Beasts to do the same, at least the larger ones. "Cassandra! We have to punch through, now!" He called out to her, just as he cut off head of a Beast that aimed to remove his. The woman tore herself away from throwing flaming blades into the air and nodded, now charging forward at the Beasts approaching from the front as Akemi jumped in her place, keeping the crossbowman safe from the attacks.

Cassandra, now covered in flames, jumped right into the center of the Beast's lines, turning all that she has passed into charred corpses in a flash. Those that were not in front of her were not any more lucky. Soon enough, Cassandra started swinging her sword left and right, easily getting rid of the Beasts one by one as the spearman behind her rushed to support her. Their weapons started to pierce into the Beasts, cutting into their throats and eyes. Some of the soldiers were outright able to overpower the Beasts and pushed them off the edge. They were right by the entrance, but now had to deal with the problem of the Danger Beasts that were coming at them simply sliding out of the Hive's outer wall. They needed to stop them for at least long enough to allow everyone inside, and Cassandra had just the right tool for the job. "Everyone, get inside! I'll cover you!" With that said, she spread her arms out and with a scream, spread her flames onto the walls, killing any Beast that might try to come out into corpse before they become a problem.

Akemi was the first one to get in so that he can make sure the area is safe, followed by everyone else. Soldiers entered inside one by one, with a few keeping the Beasts that still attacked them from below and above at bay. However, while everyone else was getting in, Cassandra was entirely defenseless. Continuously stretching her flames to that level was a huge strain, even for her. She had to focus nearly all of her attention on keeping it up and was simply unable to react in time as one of the Beasts started to charge at her.

Luckily, she still had Velvet.

The other woman was quick to kick the approaching Beast off the spiral, sending it flying down to it's death as another started to approach them, seeing Cassandra's focus on the task as an opportunity. It was naturally quickly removed from the equation by Velvet's fist. "Come on! Everyone's already in!" She snapped her lover out of her focus and helped her get inside. After straining herself this much, her legs were slightly weak and she was feeling dizzy, so as soon as Velvet pushed her through the hole in the Hive -which proved to be somewhat problematic due to Cassandra's size- two of the soldiers helped her keep moving.

Velvet's small body had no problems fitting in, but she still waited a bit before that. There were still Beasts coming from below, and they probably had no intention of stopping anytime soon. She had a plan for dealing with that though. As the Beasts kept approaching, she waited for the first one to get into her range and promptly grabbed it with her hand. The larger Beasts were too big to fit all the way through the entrance, but Velvet still started to pull it in behind her. Its bones started to crack as it was pushed through, turning the organs inside into a mush and that completely blocking the passage. The unlucky Beast was dead as soon as Velvet dropped it's head to the ground, with it\s with blood now flowing out of its corpse in bursts. The first few were large enough to make it's eyes pop out from the sockets. "Well, that takes care of it." Completely ignoring the gruesome scene she was the author of, Velvet turned around and started to look at the scene. The entrance has led them into an ice chamber that General Gavin likely used to allow his troops some rest, just like Cassandra was doing now. With Akemi and two officers that were still in a good enough shape guarding the passage that led deeper into the hive, the others were setting up a field camp with the little supplies they had on them.

The two soldier that were helping Cassandra -who was now out of her Teigu- move after she overused her powers have sat her down by the wall to let her charge back up in piece before joining most of the others in refilling their lamps with oil. "How are you holding up?" Cassandra opened her eyes and looked up at Velvet as she approached hand. Without saying a word, she grabbed her lover's hand and pulled her down, only to wrap her arms around her as if she were her personal teddy bear.

"Getting better~" For once, Velvet decided to not try getting herself out of this position and instead just hugged Cassandra back and made herself comfortable on her lap, earning herself a kiss on a cheek. "I'm fine Vel, you don't have to worry about me dropping unconscious like last time. Spreading Incursio's flames that much is tiring, but I've gotten somewhat used to it. Give ma a few minutes and I'll be good as new. Almost..." Velvet sighed, opting to just relax in the embrace for a moment.

"I'm just wondering why is that ability so draining on you..." She said. "I mean, General Gavin could make all of this-" Her hand pointed at the icy chamber they were occupying. "-and even larger structures pretty much just by snapping his fingers. Does Incursio really drain you that much?"

"Guess so..." She took hold of Incursio's key, letting her eyes admire the blade from hilt the tip. "To be honest though... I sometimes feel like there's more behind this Teigu then I, or anyone is aware of. I know that all Teigus have something of a mind of their own, but with Incursio..." She trailed off. "It feels like it's looking for something... And whatever that something is, I don't have it. I really don't know how else to describe this, but it's like I was just... Acceptable. A bare minimum of what it would consider worthy of itself..." Letting out a short sigh, she placed the sword back in its sheath. Not really sure how to respond, Velvet allowed herself a minute of relax more before getting up and switching with Akemi. At least in part because others started teasing her about 'suddenly getting touchy with General'. It's not like it was her fault though. It was Cassandra's. Nothing would be wrong if she hasn't proposed to her last night...

 _Idiot..._

* * *

Cassandra naturally wasn't going to let her man make themselves too comfortable on enemy territory and as soon as she has fully recovered, ordered everyone to move out. With her at the front, leading everyone, they marched through the tunnels that spread all over the Hive's structure. Velvet and Akemi were again on the back, making sure nothing will attack them from behind... The thing was, that nothing did. And the same goes for any other direction. They were in the middle of beast's belly, in more literal way then any of them would like, and yet as they marched through the tunnels, they were met with nothing. "General..." One of the spearman lined up behind her spoke up, clearly worried and fearful of what this development means.

"I know. We're being led where they want us to go..." That much was clear to her. She could hear passages closing off in the distance as they traveled, forcing them to follow a trail of bodies left by general Gavin's group. All headless. Her man didn't like it, and she sure as hell didn't either. There was little choice on the matter though. The place they were being led to was their target from the start. The main chamber where the Hive's heart is located. And where Xardas planted his 'Queen'. There was no doubt in her mind that whatever that being turns out to be, she can be sure of one thing. It's going to be a problem.

She knew it. So did Velvet and Akemi. Even the man marching behind her knew something big was coming. The tension in the air was so thick, one could almost cut it with a knife. Cold sweat run down everyone's back with each step they took, deeper and deeper into the darkness, unsure of what awaits them. It continued until they eventually found themselves inside of a large chamber, the very one that was their target. Soldiers immediately formed a circle as they started to slowly move in deeper within. "Velvet, do you see anything?" Cassandra asked. Cat-woman's eyes were already scanning the area as much as they could, but the chamber was so large, even her enhanced sight couldn't reach every corner of it. There as one thing she could clearly see though.

"There is someone there." She pointed her hand forward. "It's-" Suddenly, color disappeared from her face and her eyes widened. "By the God... This is..." Her mouth stopped once again. "I-It's... General Gavin."

"W-What?" Cassandra almost felt her heart skip a beat from shock. Looking back at her man, it was clear she was not alone in that feeling. "But how is that possible? Demon's Extract already returned to its container and it can't be removed with anything other then user's death." Akemi only nodded at that.

"I can't believe it either, but... He's there and... It looks like he's approaching us." She couldn't tell more then that, darkness was distorting her sight too much to tell anything else from that distance. Cassandra could feel something was off, but still started to march forward. Everyone else followed her, never dropping their guard even a little bit. And that's probably what saved them from an ambush that awaited them just a few steps ahead. Hive's Danger Beasts suddenly emerged from the floor all around them and with the spearman already having their shields held up, ready to use, they just barely managed to avoid substantial losses. Only two unlucky ones got caught in jaws of the attacking Beasts.

Akemi and Velvet quickly joined them in dispatching the threat, easily removing one Beast after another as the group of soldiers has spread out as soon as they realized that Beasts also started to appear directly under their feet. Crossbowman were forced to abandon their weapons in favor of swords that until now rested at their sides. Some of the spearman did the same, realizing that sword's versatility will be more useful in this situation over spear's reach. Cassandra was quick to join in as well, cutting down dozens of Beasts that surrounded her in a second, but something quickly changed. A sharp pain suddenly shot through her head like a bullet, almost bringing her to her knees in an instant. For a short moment she was completely paralyzed in place and the Beasts that were around her... Ignored her. As soon as they emerged from the ground, they all headed straight into the battle with the others, passing by her as if she were not there... No, that wasn't it. They treated her as _one of them_.

Before she was able to properly gather herself up, she felt something grab the back of her head and the pain returned with twice as much force as a second ago, this time forcing her to bend a knee as she yelled out, bringing Velvet's and Akemi's attention to her. They would have proceeded to run straight towards her to help, but both of them quickly run into trouble. The soldiers they fought beside until now have suddenly started to attack them. When Akemi had his back turned to one of them, he suddenly felt a surge of Killing Intent, and reacting on pure instinct, dodged under an attack coming for his head. Before even acknowledging who the attacker was, he swung at his extended hand, realizing who it was only after the soldier fell to the ground, holding his chest. Not even a second after the body hit the ground, Akemi had to dodge a spear aimed at his neck. He sidestepped, still shocked at what was going on. In the corner of his eye, he noticed one thing though. The eyes of the man that attacked him... Were pitch black... Any and all emotions were gone from his face, turned into pure indifference to anything.

He quickly realized what was going on as soon as he saw the same thing on other soldiers. It was mind control. The one thing he hoped to never be forced to deal with. There were Danger Beasts that could cause take control of other animals, including humans, but he never encountered any, for which he was glad. The idea of fighting against your allies when you know they are being forced to attack you against their will repulsed him. And not only has he found himself in his nightmare scenario, he knew he will likely have to kill at least some of them, if not all were it come to worst case scenario. To say the least, he was not thrilled by the idea. He could still remember eating dinner with the man he just killed and his family few months back.

Unable to consciously bring Murasame upon his friends, Akemi was forced to dodge attacks from his former allies with Danger Beasts in between. Being pushed back little by little, he suddenly found himself back to back with Velvet. "This... Is bad..." She said, not even looking back at him and neither did he look at her. They were far more focused on a growing group of enemies that surrounded them from all sides.

Away from it all, Cassandra was still held by the head, unable to regain control over her body. The pain grew from intense to outright head-tearing in a span of mere seconds, quickly making her body grow numb. In a last effort to free herself, she summoned a small flame on her head, forcing the hand that held her to back away. The small opening this created, gave her an opportunity to grab her sword and swing it at the enemy. She completely missed, but at the very least it forced the attacker to back away further, leaving her with just enough time to get back on her legs, if not necessarily to stand still. She quickly found herself forced to use Incursio's Key to keep herself from falling over. What she saw after looking at the figure in front of her however, was almost enough to negate all of her efforts. "Humans are... Interesting..." It was Gavin, but he was... Different... If there was anyone who deserved a title of 'dead man walking', it was the man standing before her. His skin was deathly pale, seemingly dry as if there was barely any blood in him, same with the rest of his body. The blue eyes that used to decorate his face were now replaced with black orbs and his golden hair lost its deep color.

With all of the darkness that surrounded her, she was almost wiling to say it was not him, and her eyes were just playing a trick on her. Until the figure spoke again at least. Then, everything became clear. "Creatures of such fragility... And yet... Some of you possess... A will to resist... Even us..." Cassandra could feel the pain slowly slipping back into her head, making her legs feel weak. "You... And the one who... Is our voice... And face... You are both... Strong... But no human... Can resist us... Forever..." The creature Cassandra now recognized at the mind of the hive brought here by Xardas started to approach her again, step by step, forcing Cassandra to back away. "The others... You came here with... Already... Joined us... But you... You will serve us... As our voice... And face... This one's blood... Rejected us... Made this body... Weaker... But you... Are stronger... You will... Replace it... And your weapon... Will join us..."

"Go to hell..." Her vision started to get blurry. All she could see by now was a silhouette reaching it's hand towards her. She just barely managed to swing her sword at that hand, again buying herself a bit more time, but nearly falling over in the process. "What do you want..."

"To free this place... To save humanity... From itself... To save the world... From humanity..." As Cassandra tried to swing her blade again, this time the hand she was aiming for simply pushed it away and reached forward, grabbing her head. Incursio disappeared from her body almost in an instant as the key fell from her hand. "All conflict... Must end... All minds... Will become one... And peace will last... Forever..." A needle emerged from the ground behind Cassandra and stabbed itself fight into her neck. "It's time... To join us..." Gavin's body suddenly fell to the ground. All strength pumped into it by the Hive left in an instant as the body was rendered useless by the Hive's new acquisition. His body simply fell apart after being shrouded in a block of ice.

A similar thing happened to Cassandra, however, it was not her body that was broken into pieces. It was her mind. She could feel as it is detached from everything and pushed back into some dark corner of her head where it will do no harm to the new master of her body.

The newly made Avatar of the Hive and its Queen rose to its legs, turning its face to the two warriors still fighting for their lives against an endless supply of enemies. They seemed to be unaffected by the spores that filled the air, but while the hive knew why it is so for the male, the female's immunity was a mystery. The male was... Repulsing. Or rather, the weapon he held was. That sword was like a virus in the perfect world that was to be created, the one thorn in the Hive's side that not only annoyed all of it with its mere existence, but could outright prove itself to be... Problematic, if it were to appear anywhere near the heart of the Hive.

The women however... She was different. For some reason she was able to resist the effects spores should have on her. By all means she should already be a willing part of the Hive and on her way to becoming one with it, and yet... She didn't appear to even be fazed by them.

This one was going to require... Examination.

Bending down, the Avatar reached down to pick up Incursio's key, holding it in front of it's face and staring at it, only for it to suddenly burst into flames, forcing it to drop the blade back on the ground. "So... You reject us too... Brother..." Completely switching its attention away from the blade, as if it no longer existed., the Avatar focused back on the two humans still standing. With a single command of the hive, all of the Beasts and joined soldiers stopped attacking. To the two's confusion, the Beasts started to dissolve into the ground, leaving no trace of them ever being there, while the soldiers simply fell to the ground, where each and every single one of their heads were suddenly pierced by needles that emerged from the ground.

As the Avatar made its presence known, they quickly snapped out of their shock and turned towards it, only for their faces to twist in shock of seeing their friend has become part of the hive. "C-Cassandra?" The female whispered quietly. She seemed particularly... Crushed. With memories and knowledge of the female that became the Avatar now being part of the Hive, it was very much aware of why that is, even if such emotions were out of the Hive's understanding. All that mattered to it now, was getting rid of the male and his sword, while securing the female's body.

And in order to achieve that, the female's emotions would prove advantageous. The Hive could easily recognize that the male was by far the stronger of the two, even discounting his weapon, and as such he was the one Avatar targeted first. It was easy to tell that the female's body was decaying from overuse even before Avater's memories were added to the Hive, and that along with the emotional shock of realizing that her lover is now her enemy caused her to completely fail to react in time as the Avatar run past her, straight towards the male. He barely managed to react himself, attempting to jump aside before Avatar's fist met his jaw, but only managed to do that. Because as soon as he was off to the side, the Avatar hooked it's leg around his knee and forced him to bent it. It quickly redirected the punch, hitting the man square in the face, making him fall to the ground with a loud thud.

For the whole half a second it took the Avatar to take down the man, the female didn't move an inch, still paralyzed in place. "This body..." Avatar said, looking at it's hand. "Is stronger... Then we thought..." It turned towards the female, slowly approaching her as she took one fearful step back after another. It wasn't long before the Avatar reached out its hand, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her up. "You… Will join us… As well..." Tears started to fall down the woman's face as she watched the Avatar grab a spike that had just extended itself from the ground and slowly moved it closer and closer to her head.

However, just as the spike was about to enter her brain so that the joining process may begin, the Avatar felt something grab its hand. "Give her back..." The thing that grabbed the Avatar was the female's hand. Focusing it's attention back on her face, which now was contorted with anger, despite tears still rolling down her cheeks. "GIVE BACK MY FUCKING WIFE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Suddenly, the female's other hand smashed into Avatar's face. It did nothing in the way of hurting it, but it did give the her a few short moments to prepare her next move. Her head outright slipped through the Avatar's hand as if it was a mere liquid, freeing the female from the choking hold of the Avatar and giving her an opportunity to strike again. She smashed her fist right into its chest with a wild cry, using all of the strength she could muster. It was hardly enough to truly hurt the Avatar, but that did push it away.

That turn of event was… Surprising, to the Hive. It knew that the female could stretch parts of her body to a level a normal person would not be able to, but it had no knowledge of that ability going to this extant… And that could only mean one thing – The woman that became the Avatar somehow managed to hide it from the process of joining. She somehow hid away part of her mind when all of it should have been absorbed into the Hive… And that raised a question of just how much of her mind was she able to hide. "I see… Human emotions are… A double edged blade..."

"Cassandra, please! Snap out of it!" The Avatar wasted no more time. It rushed forward, sending one punch after another at the woman who just barely managed to avoid them all. She twisted her body in all the ways it was never meant to be twisted, outright defying logic at times. Even when the Avatar managed to land a hit, smashing its feet down onto woman's knee and seemingly breaking it in, the woman suddenly wrapped all of her body around the Avatar's like a snake, holding her in a tight hold even the immense strength of Avatar's body couldn't immediately break. "Wake up you fucking idiot! We're suppose to get married, remember!?" As those words reached the Avatar's ears, Hive suddenly felt the one thing it never experienced. Resistance. Not from the woman that bounded its Avatar with her own body, but from inside of the Avatar itself.

"Vel..." For a second, Velvet could see her lover's eyes shine through the darkness that covered them. She unwrapped her body and quickly stepped away in case of an attack, but in the end, it never came. The Avatar- no, Cassandra yelling her head, groaning in pain as she desperately tried to force the Hive out of her mind. "Vel... vet..." She fell on her knees as blood started to pour out of her nose. Velvet quickly knelt down and grabbed Cassandra by the sides of her face, gazing right into her eyes as they constantly switched between her own and the black fog the Hive filled them with.

"Hey, listen to me. Look at me. I'm here, you hear me. I'm here." She gently rubbed the woman's cheeks with her hands. "Everything will be fine, alright? You're stronger then this piece of shit. You can break free. You _will_ break free."

Cassandra could barely hear her but just the fact that she did was enough to fill her with determination to fight back with all of her strength and then some. It felt like she was ripping half of her brain out of her skull, but it didn't make her pause even for a second. She continued to push against the hold Hive had over her until it was all but gone... However, the Hive was not just going to let it happen. After already getting a taste of what Cassandra's body is capable of, it was not going to just let go of it merely because of some unexpected setback.

Just as Cassandra was about to rip her mind out of the Hive's control, it suddenly completely let go of it. She didn't have time to think of it as a victory though, because as soon. as that happened, she felt a needle being inserted into the back of her neck. Her body immediately stopped obeying any of her commands. It seemingly we t completely numb, as if her head was severed. It wasn't long before she realized what is going on. But it was still too late. "Velvet, get awa-" Her hand suddenly shot forward with speed of a lightning. Cassandra's eyes were suddenly stained with blood as her own hand pierced right through Velvet's body.

The woman screamed in pain, holding her bleeding stomach as she fell on the ground. Paralyzed by the realization of what the Hive aims to do, Cassandra didn't say a word as her body rose to it's feet and approached Velvet. Before the wound even had a chance to start healing, Cassandra's hand was pushed into it again. It grabbed her by the spine and lifted up, filling the air with the woman's agonizing screams. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Those were the last words Cassandra managed to speak before her mind fell to hive's influence again. She could still see what was happening, but it was as if she was closed in a cage like an animal. Any remnants of her resistance disappeared once she started hearing Velvet's spine cracking under the pressure of her body's grip. It eventually broke in half and Velvet fell back on the ground, no longer able to scream.

The Avatar looked down at the woman. It saw her breathing lightly as she cried in pain, both physical and emotional. It was just about to let her be absorbed into the Hive so her body can be studied... But yet again, it was met with unexpected resistance. Not from within, and not from the dying woman it was about to take for itself... It was coming from behind. With only a split second of time to react, the Avatar jumped to the side just barely dodging the cursed blade tat nearly cut its back. The man wielding it was quick to swing again, so fast if the Hive was to use any other body as its Avatar, it would have been lost to the cursed poison. He easily pushed the Avatar back as it had no way to bypass his weapon.

Unlike the Danger Bests the Hive was in control of, the Avatar was not replaceable. It could be healed if need be, once the body was destroyed, it would stay that way, leaving the Hive without a face to present to the world and with no hand to enact its will. Having a strong Avatar, especially one as strong as this, was unspeakably important to Hive's plan, and it simply couldn't allow it to be destroyed. Therefore, in order to avoid that outcome, the Avatar was quickly pulled down into the Hive's body where that cursed sword couldn't reach it.

Seeing that, Akemi immediately dropped down to Velvet's side. "Velvet! Velvet, can you hear me!?" She weakly opened her eyes and looked at him. "Thank the god... We need to-" He suddenly felt her hand grab onto his.

"Cassandra... I need to..." It was clear that even with Lionelle's regenerative capabilities, she wasn't going to make it. He needed to take her back to the surface if there was to be any chance of saving her, assuming there was any in the first place.

"I'm sorry Velvet..." He clenched his fist. It was hardly what he wanted to say but he was not delusional about the situation. "Cassandra is gone... We have to... Inform everyone about what is going on here. Seal this place so that one of this ever sees the light of day." He could feel himself almost crying under his helmet, but he kept it all in for now. Time for crying over a lost friend will come later. Now, he had a duty to fulfill.

Seeing her tears falling down on the ground was almost enough to crack him up, but he still proceeded to slowly lift her, careful as to not cause any more pain. "Wait... Don't..." She placed her hand over his again. Slowly, her fingers removed Lionelle from her waist. Her body immediately twitched in pain as the healing provided by the Teigu ceased in an instant and she was hit with full force of both her injuries and her body's degradation.

"V-Velvet! What are you-!?" She placed the belt in his hand and closed his fingers around it. "No..." The message was clear. There was no way to save her. She of all people knows her body the best, she would know if there was even a slightest chance... But she knew there was none. Not even Lionelle would be able to save her, at most it would just prolong the suffering. "Velvet... I'm... I'm sorry..." Tears started to fall from under his helmet. Each landed on her face as he carefully rested her body back on the ground. "I promise you... I'll make sure this thing stays here... Forever..." In one quick motion, he rushed back to the entrance, picking up Incusio's key as he run, still crying.

Velvet could already feel her body going numb as she saw Cassandra's figure standing above her. Her eyes were again overtaken by the black and yet... She was crying. No other hint of emotions was visible on her face, just the tears running down her cheeks and onto Velvet's own chest, burning a hole in her heart along with the thoughts of what could have been... If they never entered the Archive... If they just left the army beforehand when they had a chance... If she was stronger... They could have stayed together, be happy, maybe even adopt a kid and just... Live. Just like both of them always wanted.

It wasn't long before Velvet felt her body slowly sinking into the floor. The Hive's body was entering into her, through her skin, wounds and even her eyes. She cried just like Cassandra did, reaching her arm out to her in the final burst of hope that something will wake up in her... And her last wish was granted.

At the very last moment before her head was pulled into the Hive, a sole glimmer of light reflected from the silver parts of the ring on her finger. The last ray of light let out by a candle in a broken lamp somewhere in the room seemed almost like a star shining amidst the deep darkness that engulfed her... And Cassandra saw it too. Against the orders of the Hive, her hand reached out to grab Velvet's. She held it hard, halting Velvet's disappearance for just long enough to see her final smile, one born from the assurance that the love of her life was still somewhere inside. And that one day, she will return. Velvet wished she could tell her that she loves her for one final time, but she no longer could. As soon as her arm was ripped out of her body with the sheer force of the pull from both sides, she disappeared, swallowed by the Hive.

Cassandra was left alone, with only a small portion of her mind still hers. Tears continued to fall as she held onto Velvet's hand, with her fingers gently rubbed against the ring she gave her. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I was... Too weak... I'm sorry..."

* * *

 **271 Years Later...**

Despite how large the distance between the top and bottom of the Archive seemed to be for Tatsumi as he descended, now that there were no Danger Beasts standing in his way, getting back up proved itself to be _far_ quicker then he anticipated. He didn't even realize how much time he's spent on massacring the hoards that were standing in his way. Even with his vastly superior strength and speed compared to the Beasts, their sheer numbers were more then enough so turn what should have been an hour long walk at a casual pace for him into at least three hours of bloodshed. And now that this obstacle was gone, he practically jumped from one floor to another without a care in the world. The two unconscious lovers, -that finally decided to let each other go, though most likely because their muscles simply grew too sore to keep this up- on his back barely even slowed him down. And not even with their weight, that didn't even register in his mind, but by simply increasing the air resistance with their bodies. Which was still marginal difference considering the speeds at which he was moving.

He really couldn't help but enjoy his newfound strength. Back when he started to work with Night Raid, carrying two people like that would have him struggling to run at an even pace on his good day and struggling to run in the first place on a bad one. Now it didn't even count as a warm-up. There was something childish in this, in that dumb enjoyment of being stronger and better then others, the thrill in besting your opponents like it is nothing, short termed as it might be. He was perfectly aware that thinking like that is likely at least in part responsible for turning Esdeath into the monster that she was. The enjoyment of an effortless victory can last only for so long after all. And once it's effects wear off, the natural next step is to search for a challenge. From then, it's only one wrong step away from turning into what Esdeath has become. And that's hardly what Tatsumi wants to end up as.

Still, for now he would allow himself to enjoy it. It was hard not to not even two days after receiving all that strength. If he had even half of it back when he met Akame for the first time, he would have won their fight…

A light smile that was slowly growing on his face fell down in a snap. _Akame…_ That's right, while he's already spent hours on dealing with this whole mess, she was still being tortured by her own sins. While he was enjoying easy wins against hoards of Danger Beasts, she was probably crying out in pain… _I can't waste any more time. I have to save her!_ His smile gave way to pure determination. His moves seemed to double in speed, making him appear as nothing but a blur. Not that anyone would witness it. No one was there, and even if there was, the Archive was shrouded in deep darkness that no normal person's eyes could pierce. It was just him and the two wounded souls on his back.

However, it wasn't long before he became aware of a presence of others. Kazuto and Gab. These two were about ten floors above him and appeared to be heading down. Probably to get Asako back. She must have knocked them out good for them to only make it five floors from the control room in the time it took her to get down on her own. Or rather, roll down. She was hardly in a shape to walk. He could hear them talking, but all the disturbances and the sheer speed with which he was moving made it hard to understand what either of them were saying. Or rather mumbling as it quickly turned out. Both had their noses broken and were still dizzy after what Asako has done to them. Tatsumi looked at the women on his back. _Damn, she's stronger then I thought… Or maybe that's just love…_ He knew that he would do the same in her position at least. If someone was going to try and stop him from saving Akame's life, he was sure to snap at them if not outright remove from the picture.

The ten floors that were between him and the rest quickly became two and Tatsumi was forced to start slowing down. At his currant speed, landing next to the two would only end up in him sliding forward for another few hundred meters. He needed to reduce that speed before that so he can pass Asako and Akira over to them. They can handle themselves from there. He has to get to searching through the Archive's storage rooms and find a way to help Akame.

Carefully using the steps to lower his speed, he watched not to just land on the staircase which would undoubtedly end in them collapsing from the force he was outputting with his movement. With the first staircase, he slowed down to a point where he could safely land without breaking anything, and as he got on top of the second one, he was simply walking at his casual pace. In all that time he didn't even break a sweat, and if the two man standing in front of him didn't head him before, they would just assume that the boy simply got back from a casual stroll through a park with a dog. At first, they didn't even notice the two bodies he was carrying, they were just shocked to see him get here so fast. "You lost something?" He asked jokingly. Asako was the first one they noticed and both collectively sighed in relief upon seeing that the women is alright. It wasn't long before they noticed Akira too. And saying they looked at him as if they just saw a ghost was a very accurate description of their reaction.

"A...A-Akira?" Gab was the first one to gather his jaw back from the floor. "You.. You're a-alive?" Slowly, as Tatsumi placed the two lovers down on the ground, against the wall, Gab started to approach his unconscious friend with his hand reaching out to touch him.

"He's alive just unconscious. Better don't touch him carelessly, he's barely managed to survive." Hearing Tatsumi's words, Gab's hand stopped in place but he didn't even look at the boy. He was more preoccupied in watching Akira's chest slowly rise and fall as he unconsciously drew one heavy breath after another. Before long, Gab's head fell down against the ground as he started to quietly cry to himself, muttering thanks and apologies to both Akira and the boy that brought him here. Kazuto meanwhile knelt over next to Asako and gently hugged her, not even saying a word. Deep fatherly love could be felt from him. Tatsumi knew very well that the man cared deeply for Asako, but now was the first time he really got to see and feel it. And he found it really heartwarming. He was honestly starting to feel pretty jealous just from looking at them. His own father didn't even bother to see him turn 5.

It wasn't long before Akira and Asako wrapped their hands together, as strong as their weakened bodies would manage. Then, as soon as Kazuto released Asako from his embrace, she laid her head against Akira's shoulder, visibly smiling upon feeling his warmth. Her smile only widened when Akira's own head was placed on top of hers. If not for the blood and bruises they were covered with, Tatsumi wouldn't even try to stop himself from commenting how cute they look together. "I have something else to do on the higher levels. Are you two feeling good enough to get back up with them on your backs?" Kazuto turned towards him, struggling to maintain a straight face with a smile constantly trying to creep its way to his face. It honestly looked quite hilarious, especially with his nose broken and bloodied bandages pushed into it.

"Yeah, we'll be fine..." He looked back at Asako. "We had a _long_ nap..." Unconsciously, he started to rub his swollen nose, hissing in pain and quickly moving his hand away. "But… What about the hive? Shouldn't we handle that first?"

Tatsumi only smiled at that. "Don't worry about it. Leone has it covered."

* * *

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Cassandra's quiet cries continued. Her sobs disappeared in the darkness, just like the person she loved above all others did all those years ago. She felt lonely even though what felt like millions of voices seemed to bounce in and out of her head at every second. She wanted it to end. She wanted all of it to end. She wanted to die and join everyone in whatever afterlife was out there, if any at all. She wanted to see Velvet again...

For over two hundred years she cried and begged whatever cruel God resided over this world to finally let this torture end, for someone to finally come and destroy this dreaded place and her along with it... But for so long, no one did. And once someone finally made it to her... She lost. Even though she did everything to weaken the Hive, to stop it from influencing this newcomer... She still lost, leaving Cassandra alone yet again, unable to stop crying until the next time Hive decides her body is of use.

Which likely was not far from now. With the soldiers that recently started coming into the Archive, the path back to the surface has been reopened. Not only that, but thanks to the knowledge taken in as the soldier's minds were absorbed into the Hive, it knew all about the currant state of the Empire. It knew about the rebellion and how weak the world is now. It knew that many Teigus were destroyed and only a handful of their users were still alive. The Empire's Strongest – general Esdeath, was killed and Empire's army was devastated after fight for the Capital. Rebels were barely able to win the Capital and needed time to calm things down and regain their military strength. And other countries? They were all ruined by the Empire, either completely crushed or driven into poverty by lack of trade. It was a perfect opportunity for the Hive to strike and fulfill its sick dream of a single mind controlling the world...

 ***SPLASH***

Suddenly, the wall of flesh was torn open. Before the Hive was even able to fully take hold of Cassandra's body again, a hand grabbed her by the throat and pulled closer. "The fuck are you crying over..." Cassandra soon found herself face to face with two rage-filled eyes of the very same woman she just defeated. Her flesh was missing in many places, but none of it seemed to bother her as she simply smashed her fist into Cassandra's face, sending her flying across the chamber as she pulled herself out of the wall. "The fight isn't over you bitch!"

* * *

 _ **Quick update:**_

 **The poll for the next story I make after this is about to restart. The story with the first place will be set as my next project so if you care about that shit, go to my profile, read the short descriptions I've left there and enter the link to the poll.**

 **I'll be resetting it in a few days as well as updating the list with other stories concepts I came up with in the meantime.**

 _ **More important update:**_

 **The next update may also take a while. I wanted to work on a few one-shots and short stories that are on my mind lately.**

* * *

 **Song of the day: Dry Cell – Sorry**


	12. Rage and Purpose

„Sorry, sorry, sorry… Got nothing else to say?" Leone mocked the woman in front of her as she pulled herself out of the Hive's body. The pain was unbearable, the missing flesh almost drove her insane, but she still stood strong, staring daggers into the other woman. "If you've got time to drown yourself in apologies, kindly use some of it to break free, would ya 'general' Cassandra?" Her eyes widened.

"H-How..." She spoke. The Hive was already attempting to take over her mind again, but she was holding it back, holding onto the one spark of hope that was just ignited by Leone's words. There was only one reason she could think of and she almost didn't want to believe it was true. She was dead after all. Long gone from the world and reduced to nothing but a mere thought in the Hive's mind. _It's...impossible… It can't be!_

The cat-woman only smirked at that. "How else? I asked your girlfriend." Cassandra almost fell to her knees from the weight of these words. "Surprised? Guess I can't blame you, I didn't exactly expect to hear a voice of someone trying to help me among the thousands of others. And guess what. She heard it all. Every single apology you made and every single tear you shed." She clanged her fist. "Wanna know what she had to say?" Not bothering to wait for an answer, Leone dashed forward, right in front of Cassandra. " _Make this fucking idiot shut up already!_ " She slapped her with an open hand, hard enough to throw her into the wall. "She's still somewhere out there! Still waiting for you to get your shit together and find her!" She dashed at the woman again, this time smashing her foot into her face. "For all this time she was fighting the Hive all alone, while you little bitch cried and cried over your sad little fate!" Next, Leone's fist struck her face. "No one's going to win this for you Cassandra! Either you get your ass back in the game, or I'll end you, and this whole place along with your-" This time, she was the one who's face was struck.

"Don't you dare!" Cassandra rushed out of a hole Leone was slowly beating her into as the woman in question was thrown out of it. "Nothing will stand between me and my Velvet! Nothing!" She could feel something inside of her. Burning. It was like a warm touch of flames she felt so long ago… Her angry outburst disappeared in the comfort of that warmth as she looked down at Leone. She was getting up from the ground, grinning like a madman as she rubbed the side of her face. A large burn mark resided there… She then looked down at her hand, the one she struck Leone with, only to see flames dancing in her palm. She immediately recognized them. "I-In... Incursio..." It almost didn't make sense to her. The armor was gone, it rejected her all those years ago… So, could she still feel it's flames inside of her? And more importantly… Did it even matter? It was back, and right now, that's all she really cared about.

She closed her hand into a fist, allowing the flames to spread out throughout her body, first her arm, then her chest… Flames soon engulfed all of her, inside and out, burning away the grasp Hive had on her and melting down the years of despair and sadness into pure, boiling rage. "Heh, now that's more like it..." Leone said as she looked at her, the lone shining spot in the seemingly endless darkness around them. She watched her hands forming into fists as her eyes slowly opened. They were full of rage, but none of it directed at her, rather the Danger Beasts that were starting to appear all around them. "Oh boy, someone here's throwing a tantrum! The big all mighty Hive can't handle loosing it's toy to the power of love? Well cry me a fucking river. Of blood preferably." She turned to Cassandra. "What do you say, sister. Think we should give those-"

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!** " Cassandra cut her of with a wild rage-filled scream that even the Beasts surrounding them couldn't ignore. She smashed her burning fists into the floor, pushing fire into it.

Before Leone knew it, the surface she was standing on had fire burning underneath it. "Fuck! It's hot!" She jumped into the air to at least for a moment protect her feet from the heat. A process she quite comically was forced to repeat as the flames lit up the whole chamber, burning just under the surface of the chamber's walls, turning the darkness into a beautiful, yet deadly light show that continued until the Beasts around them became nothing more then charred statues and the flesh walls they came out of died. Once it all ended, Cassandra remained still, frozen in place as her tired breath tried to refill her lungs with air. Slowly, she stood back up, holding back tears of joy. First in nearly three hundred years. "God damn it!" She turned towards Leone, hearing her angry screams. "At least tell me next time you do something like that! I thought my feet are gonna melt!" She continued to jump for a few more seconds before falling down on her butt once she decided ground cooled down enough, only to start blowing air at her feet. A sight Cassandra couldn't help but laugh at. And laugh she did. Hard. Before she knew it, she was crying on the floor, holding her stomach as she rolled around. "Yeah, yeah, sure. Laugh at someone else's pain! It's _your_ fault I'm like this!"

The moment of joy, while very welcome, was not meant to last for long. There were things to do after all. Things to kill and things to get back. The smile lowly turned into scowl as she got back up, facing Leone who rose to her full height as well. "Well, you have an idea on how to tear this place apart? Or do we just rip and tear til' it's done?"

Cassandra looked at the scorched ground below. "The Hive's 'brain' is right below us. I can burn the tissue down into coal but you'll need to break it down. Then we kill the Queen and this place will die on its own. Before that happens though, I need to find Velvet. The moment the hive dies, this place will fall to the bottom of this hellish pit." She walked past Leone, ignoring her calls for an 'escape plan' to instead focus on finding the right place to start drilling into the heart of the beast. That's most likely where she will find Velvet anyways. She intensely searched through all the bits and pieces she actually remembered from being moved around the structure and the one thing she did know for sure, is that the Queen stores anything it deems worthy of researching and if Velvet was able to resist getting absorbed for all this time, then that's most likely where she was held. "Stop questioning things. We have a job to finish!" She said, turning to Leone.

"I know, I would just prefer being alive to tell about it!"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "We'll get there when we get there. Now move it! I've wasted more then enough time already!" Her hand closed into a fist as she brought it down to the ground. Fire erupted below her, turning everything it touched into black rock. _This time, I won't give into despair… This time, I'll come out victorious…_ Leone could only smirk as she watched her work her magic. The legendary general was back. And she was pissed.

* * *

"There it is!" Tatsumi screamed as he pointed his finger at the giant gate in front of him. That was it, his target – the archive chamber where everything known about Murasame's curse and how it affects it's user was stored. Excluding medical papers on Murasame's previous users, those would be in other chambers. Luckily for him, this one was very close to the top. The oldest records were stored in the chambers that were built first after all and each was meant to cover 100 years worth of documents. _The size of this place is a testament to the Empire's age… I never_ _even though about it before…_ It didn't matter now though. What mattered, was that he was close to what he needed. With one casual move of his hand, he ripped the lock open as if it was not even there, stepping inside the second the gate was opened… Or at least he would have, if the guardian of this chamber wasn't waiting for him right behind the gate.

He had to waste a whole second to get rid of the Zmei that threw itself at him. "Damn, that scared me!" He said, looking at the steaming pile of broken bones he splattered against the wall. "I almost had a heart attack!" Having dealt with the unexpected encounter, Tatsumi continued looking in amazement at the huge bookshelves filled with huge amounts of paper. Fiction, non-fiction, banking documents, official decrees, copies of messages between the emperor and nobles, medical records and so much more. All preserved in a near perfect condition. How that was achieved, Tatsumi didn't know and quite frankly, didn't care about. _The currant era started with birth of the first Emperor, but the Archive was initially made before then and was simply remade into what it is now over time, so the higher floors still use the old dating system… So if Murasame was made_ _a few years_ _before Incursio, I should be looking at year…_ _2_ _723,_ _that's the year when Tyrant died_ _and since the first user died after using Murasame on himself_ _in a fight against Tyrant,_ _all mentions of the poison's effects of the user would have to be placed from that year onward_ _._ He quickly located the section storing all medical documents and from there, he was shortly facing a metal plate with the number he searched for.

The exact date of Tyrant's death was not known even to the Beast itself, as it never bothered itself with keeping a note of that, let alone comparing it's own internal clock to human's idea of time passage. It only started to take note of that after about a dozen or so users took Incursio into their possession and only knew the year of it's death through remembering one of Incursio's users mentioning it. Knowing that, Tatsumi proceeded to carefully look through each and every single file and book in the whole medical section. Starting from the very beginning. " _...The growing skepticism among the general population in regards of viability of vaccines is becoming a major problem to the medical community. We, the representatives of Imperial Academy believe the fanatical belief in inherent dangers of vaccination_ _despite the overwhelming evidence to the opposite_ _should be considered a mental illness as is the case with d_ _enial of scientifically proven fact that our home planet is in fact a sphere as opposed to a flat disc…_ Nope!" Tatsumi slammed the file shut and put it back in place. "I can't believe these kinds of people were a problem even back then..."

With a sigh, he grabbed onto another file, though seeing it's title - 'Academical research on subject of prostate issues' – he quickly returned it to it's rightful place. From then on he found descriptions of various diseases – many of which were long gone, research papers and books every subject connected to medicine. Only half way through the whole bookcase, he found what he was looking for. 'Ayumu Akamine, Imperial General – Medical Records'. The file was large, but Tatsumi immediately got to reading it, skipping only a few pages in the beginning that touched on his medical problems before he was made general and the first wielder of Murasame, which only made for about a third of the file. Everything else was about how he died. There were descriptions of various attempts at saving his life, the experimental surgeries, medicine… None of which worked, obviously. A whole section was devoted to describing his mental decline from a proud general, respected by his peers and loved by his family, into a mumbling shell of a man, capable of little more then begging for someone to end his life.

Ultimately, there was nothing in there that could help, but the file did point Tatsumi in the right direction. It gave him names of the doctors that tried to save him, references to other files that were connected to this one and a whole bunch of other papers he needed to look for. Tatsumi looked up at the huge bookshelf in front of him and sighed deeply before sharply focusing his gaze in search of what he needed. _It doesn't matter how much of this place I have to search. I_ _ **will**_ _find a way to save you Akame. I swear…_

* * *

"HIYAH!" Leone smashed her fists into the burned flesh under her feet, sending hundreds of small, charred rocks all around. "Done! Give me more!" She screamed at Cassandra, who had just kicked off a Danger Beast's head. Even with the main chamber burned to a crisp, it wasn't long before the Beasts started to rush in from other parts of the Hive, forcing them to defend themselves against their overwhelming numbers. It really slowed down their descent down towards the very core of the Hive, but with their combined strength, it was in the end, no issue. Merely an inconvenience. At first at least.

Just as Leone jumped into the attacking horde, Cassandra retreated behind her to focus on burning through another layer of flesh. She placed her hands flat against the fleshy surface and released the fire into it. The heat could be felt even dozens of meters away, effectively keeping the Beasts away from her, while Leone ripped them to pieces. It was an effective tactic, but it wouldn't last long. Cassandra could no longer regenerate her body and strength having severed her connection to the Hive and Leone had a limited strengths to begin with. After fighting Cassandra she was already on the edge of her endurance and now with hundreds of Danger Beasts charging at them, it was only a matter of time before they find themselves struggling to catch their breath. "How much longer will that take!?" The lioness screamed among the roars of Danger Beasts as her claws slashed at them.

"We're almost there! Don't give up!" Truth be told, Cassandra was not feeling great either. The constant use of her flames started to put a strain on her quite some time ago and by now she was struggling to continue generating them at the same rate. It was painful, her head felt it was constantly being smashed to pieces with a war-hammer but she didn't allow it to put a stop to what she was doing. Nothing would stop her from saving her precious Velvet. Especially not her own weakness. "Now!" She screamed at Leone and immediately sent a blade of fire right at her. The woman jumped over it, not even turning around and as the blade exploded in the face of a Danger Beast, Cassandra rammed her body into it. She placed her hand at it's side, sending a powerful shockwave through it's body. It immediately exploded into pieces, sending bone and flesh fragments flying towards the surrounding Beasts. Without a pause, she used the distraction to send a wave of flames around her, killing even more Beasts.

Leone meanwhile gracefully landed back on the ground, only now turning around towards her target. She jumped again, this time rising her fist up to only to slam it into the ground. And this time, as the whole chamber shook from the force of her punch, she fell down into another chamber below. She barely had time to turn back to look at Cassandra. "We're in!" She screamed as she fell.

Cassandra was quick to disengage from the fight and rush towards the hole. The Beasts naturally followed her but even though she was more then fast enough to simply outrun them, she had a different idea. She kept running just fast enough to not let them get her in their claws, but slow enough for them to not give up. She continued this right until she was just a few meters away from the hole. That's when she dashed right into it. She then turned around midair, watching as the Beasts trample over themselves to be the first one to catch her. None of them did, because as they continued to mindlessly fall down after her, Cassandra's hand extended towards them to rain hell. The flames swallowed the Beasts in an instant turning them into one big mass of molten flesh and bones that easily blocked the way in for other Beasts.

The fall lasted only a few seconds and as soon as Cassandra landed, she turned towards Leone. "Alrighty, so what's our next move? And may I remind you that we still have no escape plan whatsoever?"

It was probably about time to address that bit, she decided. "There is a straight way from here." She pointed her finger at the ground. "This chamber is only a few layers away from the outside. Once we end this place, it will start to fall apart but we should be able to smash our way out like we did just now. Then we just grab one of the flying Beasts and use them like parachutes. And as for our currant objective..." Now her hand started pointing up at one of the walls. Her hand was in an instant twisted into an angry scowl as she stared daggers at the creature they saw hanging there, staring at them with an equal amount to anger. "That's it. The monster Xardas brought into the palace, and the one that took my wife from me..."

Leone quickly adapted an equally angry look on her face though in reality she was more… disgusted. Not just by the creature's hideous looks, but by the malevolent aura it generated. It was just as what she felt from Cassandra when she first saw her, only multiplied tenfold. A twisted need for justice. A desire for good in all the wrong ways… And anger. Hate… The creature was mad at the world and it's desires reflected that. It felt wronged, backed into a corner by things outside its control. And it wanted vengeance… Against the world… And something else… Something more specific...

The monster's two black eyes gazed at the two woman standing before it. " **YOUUUUUUUUUU...** " It spoke in it's deep commanding voice. It sounded almost human, but there was something uncanny about it. Like an animal trying to speak. Cassandra recognized that voice all to well though. It was the one that gave her orders. The one that controlled her like a puppet for all this time.

The creature let go of the wall, showing it's full form, hanging over them as if it thought itself to be nothing less then a god. It looked like worm, with a massive torso coming out of a wall. It's two arms were large, each ended with a massive spike that it used like a pair of canes, supporting it's weight as it emerged from the wall on a long, snake like tail. It opened it's jaws, aggressively presenting it lineup of sharp, dagger-like teeth. On top of it's head were two plates that looked almost like a crown of sorts. " **IF YOUUU...** " It spoke again after a moment of bombarding them with it's anger. " **WILL NOOOOT...** " It started lifting it's two arms, prompting Cassandra and Leone to prepare for battle. " **SUBMIIIIIIT... YOU WIIIIIL...** " With an angry growl, the spikes at the end of each arm stabbed the ground, right where each of the two woman stood. " **DIEEEEEEEE!** "

Both woman were easily fast enough to dodge, but the monster didn't end there. It quickly brought it's open mouth at Leone, aiming to swallow her whole. "Crap!" She had no way to move out of the way, so she braced herself to grab onto one of its teeth before she gets swallowed, but luckily it didn't come to that.

Cassandra threw a fireball into monster's open mouth, forcing it to retreat immediately before it had a chance to even get close to Leone. "Thanks." She said as they both landed. "Got myself in a bit of a pinch there. But damn, that's one ugly queen." It didn't seem to appreciate being called ugly as mere second later, another attack came at them, this time a wide sweep of its arm along the ground. This again was easily avoided by the two woman, who merely jumped over the approaching appendage and landed safely before it had a chance to attack again. This time they were first though. Cassandra sent a cloud of flames right into it's face as it tried to go for another sweep and as it was getting away from the heat, Leone jumped right through it, smacking it straight in the face. With a pained roar, it hit the wall it came out of, now with a large dent in it's exoskeleton.

"That's it? Figured we'd be in for a bit more of a fight." She said, swinging her fist at the creature again. This time broke one of it's arms in half.

"Of course it's not strong. Why do you think it needed me to fight its battles." The queen tried to get away from Leone, but in doing so only fell into Cassandra's hands. It was quickly greeted by a flaming fist that melted through it's face. Cassandra ripped one of its sharp teeth from inside of its jaw and stabbed it right into its eye. A burst of gooey blood hit her in the face as she jumped away, enjoying the sight of the creature wriggling in pain. "It's as good as dead, and knows it!" It was clear that the Queen was perfectly aware of her predicament. Each of the two woman standing against it could have ended her single handedly even in their exhausted and battered state. Were they at their full strength, this wouldn't even be called a fight, but it definitely hoped their previous fight against each other as well as their struggle against the Danger Beast horde would cut down their strengths enough for it to handle alone… That obviously wasn't the case and now it was desperately trying to escape back into a hole it crawled out of, but was immediately stopped when Leone jumped onto the very top of it's 'crown' and sunk her hands into the hard, bone-like tissue. The screams of agony filled the air only for a second as it's face was suddenly being melted down, enveloped with Cassandra's flames.

Beams of energy started to shoot out of its eyes, but none hit its mark, and before long, Beast's eyes melted as well, leaving it completely defenseless. Leone started to slowly spread the Queen's head apart, listening with amusement to the sound of cracking bones and flesh ripping. Soon enough, she was looking right at its brain, exposed and defenseless… "Cassie! I'll leave the finish for you!" She jumped back down, leaving a large hole for Cassandra to enjoy. And looking at the taller woman's face, twisted with sick mix of rage and joy, Leone knew she will enjoy every single second if it. She grabbed onto the Queen's melted face and held it down, even thought it barely had any fight left in it. Cassandra gracefully landed right on top of the gap Leone left for her, rising her hand high up. For a moment, the world seemed to freeze as she felt flames spread between her fingers. Her eyes fell on the blood-covered brain matter below her, slowly feeling herself be filled with pure disgust. Just how many people's lives were stored in it? How many died before this moment? Why did her friends have to die for _this_?

She quite honestly wasn't sure, and knew she probably never will be. But it didn't matter in the end. Just having these questions in her mind was enough for her rage to turn the flames in the palm of her hand into a true inferno, hot enough to scorch the sun itself. Her fist smashed into the brain, turning Queen's skull into a furnace that reduced it's insides to less then ashes. Light shone through Queen's eyeholes and mouth for just a second before molten flesh started pouring out of them. There were no screams to be heard, just the satisfying splashes of Queen's body exploding from the inside out as water turned to vapor. Leone had to shield her eyes from the light, unable to handle something so bright after spending so much time in complete darkness, but once it all calmed down, she was more then happy with the sight of a dead, steaming body before her. She smiled slightly as she looked at Cassandra's figure still standing on top of the Queen's head. Her legs were trembling, barely keeping her still… and shortly after, she fell. Leone was quick to catch her before she even lost her footing. She allowed the general to rest on her arms for a while so she can catch her breath and as soon as that was done, Cassandra rose to her feet again.

"Velvet..." She immediately turned towards the wall Queen's dead body stuck out of. Almost as if led by pure instincts, she run straight at it, somewhat dragging her feet behind. She was tired, clearly just a step away from passing out but still, she persisted. She would not allow herself to rest until she saw her lover again. Focusing all of her remaining strength, she grabbed Queen's body and started to pull it out of the wall. The sound of tearing flesh rang in her ears, but the massive body remained seated where it was. The use of her flames had drained her considerably, far more then she thought it would. Luckily for her, Leone was rather quick to help out, even if she wasn't sure what Cassandra hopes to achieve.

With her help, Queen's body was quickly removed from the wall, leaving a large, bleeding hole that Cassandra immediately jumped into. "Hey, wait!" She jumped after her, quickly greeted with a sight of a large tunnel running for what seemed like miles… All of it filled with bodies. Animals and humans, dead and alive, big and small… It was pretty clear what this place was. Just as Cassandra said before, the Queen was gathering things for research. Anything it deemed useful was placed here to rot on the inside as all of its worth was slowly sapped away… She could barely force herself to look at the ones that were still 'alive'. They were… empty. Just... completely deprived of _everything…_ It disgusted her more then anything short of the most twisted atrocities she witnessed during her time in Night Raid. "Fucking hell..." She forced herself to turn away from the scene and continue towards where Cassandra headed. On the inside however, she felt somewhat relieved. Whatever torture these poor souls had to endure was about to end.

And speaking of that, she just felt the ground below her shaking... "Oh shit!" The shaking only continued as she run at full speed. She could see walls around her loosing their lively red and pink shade, slowly fading into gray as they dried out in matter of seconds. "Cassandra!" She screamed at the woman as soon as she saw her but was promptly ignored. Cassandra was kneeling down next to one of the Queen's 'belongings', crying as she held another woman's face between her hands. It was Velvet... or rather what was left of her. There were... _holes_ in her. Chunks of flesh simply missing. Tendrils were sinking into her body through her mouth, eye, ears, stomach... And despite this, she was still the most alive one out of all the things trapped in here. She would actually dare to say she was the _only_ one alive.

With her one remaining eye she looked back at Cassandra and a few tears rolled down her face. "Velvet..." Cassandra hugged her torn body to her chest, gently holding her hand on Velvet's head. "I'm so-" She stopped herself, knowing fully well that's not what she really needs to say now. " _Thank you_ , Velvet... You saved me... And now, I will save you." With that said, Cassandra raised her hand and promptly cut off all of the tendrils that held her tied to the Hive's body and pulled them out of Velvet's. Blood started to pour out of her body but Cassandra was no longer able to see it. She passed out and fell on the ground along with Velvet's body, thus leaving Leone alone in a crumbling, living cave with two unconscious bodies to pull out of there.

It was really no surprise that Cassandra passed out at a moment like that. She's been running on fumes ever since her final attack on the Queen ended after all. _It's a miracle she managed to crawl her way to Velvet at all, bu_ _t I guess the power of love can only take you so far..._ Leone felt a huge urge to sigh and call the situation a major pain in the ass, but stopped herself on account of incoming doom in form of getting crashed to death as the tunnel she stood in started shrinking in size while the muscle tissue that formed it closed in on itself. She quickly grabbed both Velvet and Cassandra, placed them on her shoulders and promptly got the fuck out of there. Within seconds, she got out of the tunnel, but... she quickly was made aware that her problems don't end there. "You've got to be fucking _kidding_ me!" She could only look as one of the flying Danger Beasts stand on top of the Queen's dead body, pulling out a small, larva like creature out of it... It quickly became obvious what the creature was. After all, that Xardas guy had to carry it in _somehow_. The Beast was quick to jump into a hole that formed in the floor upon seeing her and Leone, with an annoyed hiss, followed after it.

She found herself flying right out of the Hive's body soon after jumping down and quickly whistled for backup as she continued to accelerate downwards, noticing that the Hive's body seems to be moving down along with her. _Shit, shit, shit, shit..._ She whistled for her pet Danger Beast – Gorge again, soon greeted with a sight of his happy beak. He screeched happily as she grabbed onto his back with her legs. "Boy, you're getting a reward when we're out of here!" She proclaimed. "Now come on! After them!" She pointed at the Danger Beast running away with a new Queen and Gorge immediately started flapping his wings to peruse but... it quickly became apparent that carrying three people was a bit much for him... "Um... Alright, scratch that. Take these two to the entrance and I'll... Think of something." Having received a confirmation in form of a screech, she placed both Velvet and Cassandra in Gorge's claws before jumping towards a different flying danger Beast.

There were many others around, but it seemed like with the Hive gone, they were left in a complete disarray. They didn't know what to do so they just... flew in circles. Some of them at least. Many simply started falling down like bags of potatos.

The one Leone grabbed seemed to be in the latter category. She was quickly forced to propel herself towards another one, leaving her previous platform to fall to it's death. As she jumped towards another one, she saw her target getting further and further away. It was clearly hoping to hide the Queen away until she can safely escape... Leone couldn't have that. She proceeded to remove the head of the Beast she now rode and throw it at her target, hitting it right on the wing. As she expected, it immediately started to fall and has let go of the queen. "Oh yeah!" Aaaaand she fell along with it. "Oh shit.." To make it even better, she there were no other Beasts range for her to jump on, not when she was not on a still ground. She had to increase her range, even by a little bit... And there was one way to do that. In a moment of desperate ingenuity, she sank her hand in the Beast's belly and ripped out it's intestines. With them in hand, she jumped in direction of the closest one of the Beast around her and as she expected, she missed by quite a bit, forcing her to throw the intestines at the Beast like a lasso, hooking to it so her speed can carry her forward. She let go of it as her speed reached it's peek, leaving her accelerating towards a wall just as the wriggling larva of the Queen appeared right in front of her. She smirked, feeling the panic rising in the small creature. It didn't last long though, Leone was more then happy to end all its fears with her fist.

Still grinning, she smashed into the wall she was accelerating towards, which might have knocked some of her teeth out of order... And it hurt. It definitely hurt. "Leone?" As she removed herself from the wall and fell back down, she found herself landing on something... well, not exactly soft, but definitely not cold stone. She cleared some dust and rock pieces from her eyes and looked around, suddenly realizing that Tatsumi is holding her in his arms. "Damn, you stink..." All she could really do is smile at him as her body relaxed in his arms with a tired sigh leaving her lips.

The relaxation didn't last long though. It was not time for that yet. She quickly remembered there was still one _very_ important issue to handle. Namely, Velvet. The woman was bleeding when she threw her over her shoulder and the blood covering her was a testament to that. If she bled out then... Cassandra would be mad. Probably very mad. Instantly upon this realization, Leone's eyes snapped open and she jumped out of Tatsumi's arms. The entrance wasn't far away, so she made it there in a heartbeat and was immediately greeted by the sight of Gorge obediently waiting for her next to the two unconscious woman. One of whom was in a small puddle of blood. "Oh god! Oh shit! Oh god! What the fuck do I do!?" She rushed over to her and started to shake her body. "Hey! Can you hear me!? Are you awake!? Or alive!? Come on, say something!" Her chest was still moving, albeit weekly so she was still alive. How long that would last though, she couldn't tell. "Damn it, what do I do? I'm good at killing things, not healing them! I only know how to heal myself!"

Just as it seemed her panic would make her do something stupid, she felt something grab her hand but she didn't pay any mind to it. Not until she felt her wrist being slashed open. "Hey!" She snapped her head to the side where she saw Tatsumi holding her hand in his own, with his thumb covered in her blood. "What was that for!?" In response, he only pointed his finger down at Velvet. She looked at her as requested and... she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her blood landed right in the other woman's mouth and over her wounds, which were now steaming with something as the woman hissed in pain. And all the while, her wounds were _closing_. the holes in her body were slowly being filled with new flesh, the missing eye started to regrow... "W-What? How?" She asked, looking at Tatsumi questioningly.

"She used to be a Lionel user right? Most teigus leave a strong print on their user even if they are not able to use it for a long time. Your blood simply reactivated her healing capabilities for a moment, kind of how the real Lionel healed Tyrant long ago, but that was a special case. Either way, she still needs to get to a hospital soon. There's only so much Lionel can heal without the boost you received upon your transformation." He got up and made his way to a small cart he was pulling behind him, filled with various books and papers.

"Wait a second! How did you even know she was a teigu user!?" She only now noticed four other people behind him, two of whom were unconscious. "And who are they?"

He turned back to face her again. "They are from the unit sent down here in the first place. What's left of it anyways. The two unconscious lovebirds are Asako and Akira, the old man's name is Kazuto and the other guy is Gab. And about me knowing that she's Lionel's former user, you do remember Tyrtant was to an extant aware of everything his users did? And that I now have access to most of that? I know who she is and even more so the woman next to her."

"Oh, okay... No, wait!" She rose to her feet again and pointed her finger at him. "If you knew that, they have you also knew the damn Hive was above all along!?"

"Well, yes but actually no..." She gave him a puzzled look, demanding a clarification. "You see, I basically fused with Tyrant, right? A creature that was alive of _thousands_ of years. With all of that memories flowing into my head at once, it's kinda hard to remember something randomly like that. I only now realized who these two are and only because I saw them. Can we go now? I need to get all of this to the doctor and help him figure out some way to help Akame." Without any further word, he turned around and headed to the entrance, followed by the others. Leone only sighed as she placed both Velvet and Cassandra on Gorge's back and followed them with her new pet in tow. They quickly made their way to the exit and... promptly stopped just as they stepped out of the archive. Everyone save for Leone stared at the gift left for them on a wall.

"Oh, I almost forgot about him!" As they continued to stare wide-eyed at the former prime minister Honest, crucified to a wall with swords Leone probably picked up from dead Imperials lying around the palace. He had a blade sticking out of each joint on his arms and legs, completely immobilizing him and more then likely, dealing agonizing pain. There were other swords too, going through his stomach, chest, testicles and even one that entered through his mouth. "You guys wouldn't _believe_ it if you didn't see this right now, but this guy actually funded himself some genetic modifications. Don't know the details since most of what he said was begging for mercy and shit, but the point is, he has a healing factor akin to the one Lionel provides, just... you know, worse." She stepped over to him and roughly pulled the sword that was in his mouth. He coughed out blood, but as soon as the hole in the back of his stomach was healed he turned to face Tatsumi and the soldiers behind him.

His eyes betrayed only one thing. Fear. And it didn't take the levels of sensing Tatsumi and Leone possessed to know just how deeply terrified the man was. "Help me please! She's crazy! I'm innocent, you must believe me! T-The Emperor! He's the guilty one, I only did what he ordered! I had no choice, I'm just a frail old man! This is all a setup! You must-" He saw that Tatsumi started approaching him, staring him right in the eyes. "Y-You're from some village, right? Which one? Tell me. If you save me from this lunatic I will fill that village with enough riches to last for centuries! You'll all live like aristocrats! Like kings! Like-AAaAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaAAAaaaaaaaaAAuuuUuuuUUUUuuuuUUUaaAAaaa!" Tatsumi wasn't even listening. He simply spat on his face and turned away. His spit started to burn through Honest's body, melting through his fat and flesh until it drilled a hole straight through him, exiting his body through his ball sack, having emptied it along the way.

"You can shove your generosity up your fat ass, you blob of shit." Tatsumi walked away, not paying attention to the man's screams. He had more important things to do then bother himself with his punishment. He was sure Leone and the new Empire in its entirety will get the job done well enough in his place.

* * *

 _Song of the day: Korn – A Different World_


	13. Awake and Alive

It's been a long time since Velvet last felt at ease. For nearly three centuries she was stuck on a thin line between life and death, unable to go to either side, yet standing firmly in both. She had to endure constant pain of the tortures her body was subjected to by the Hive while staring death in the eyes the whole time, watching as it waits for her to enter it's cold embrace. She honestly almost wished it would just come and take her to whatever awaited her. Almost, because no matter the pain she had to go through she always remained committed to one thing that she placed above everything else. Cassandra. A friend she never knew she needed. A lover she never knew she wanted. A wife she never got to have... Ever since she was pulled into the Hive, balancing the line between fully becoming a part of it and being discarded as trash, she could feel her, hear the numerous apologies thrown her way.

She loved her. And not even for a second did she forget about it. She waited and waited, hoping an opportunity would arise to free both of them. For years, nothing came, save the inhumane torments the Hive's queen wrecked upon her mind and body. She was just starting to realize her hope is fading away when she was suddenly made aware of a powerful presence being absorbed into the Hive. One similar to her – Lionele user. The woman was strong, far stronger then she was, both in will and body… She just needed a little push to keep going. And Velvet was more then happy to provide that. The woman was, after all, her one and only hope. In the end, it all paid off. Cassandra was relieved from Hive's hold, the Queen was defeated and she was finally able to step over the line, one way or the other.

Honestly though, she was not sure which way she would go. Both ways seemed promising. Death was sure to grant her eternal peace, but… As soon as she felt Cassandra's hand touch her cheek, the decision was made. She would live to see another day, to see her again… And now, she could do just that. It's been hours into the night when she woke up, lying in a bed that felt made of clouds… Though seeing that her head in on the ground level, surrounded by wounded soldiers, she quickly realized she's just in some kind of field tent. She was probably just lying on some clean sheet. That didn't matter though. What mattered, was who was lying next to her. Cassandra. Sleeping peacefully with all of her beauty on display, illuminated only by the faint candle lights placed around the tent. Were she able to make her body move, she would be quick to scoot over and snuggle closely to her. Just like that one couple she could see a bit further into the tent that a group of nurses was trying to separate. Though, maybe trying to have sex would be a bit too much…

Regardless, she wasn't able to move an inch. Not even hear any sound or feel most of her body. And so, she just… looked. For long minutes that slowly turned to hours. At some point someone noticed she's awake, started changing bandages her body was wrapped in and injected her with some stuff, but they never obstructed her view of Cassandra, for which she was grateful. She just wished she could touch her, even for a little bit.

A while after the people tending to her left, she started to slowly regain feeling in her body, for better or worse. She still couldn't move more then a finger, but just being able to feel like she's in her own body again more then made up for it. Unfortunately, she was also made aware of just how badly said body is hurt. It wasn't exactly painful, just...discomforting. Like not all of her was really… hers. She didn't understand why, but she could worry about that later, when she can do more then lie there motionlessly. More time passed and she was finally starting to feel tired. Her eyes were slowly closing on their own with little resistance from her side. Just before that happened though, she could swear Cassandra was getting closer to her. She could feel her arm moving, but she wasn't the one controlling it. She could see a hand, covered in white fur holding it, slowly placing her hand in Cassandra's who was now mere inches away from her. She didn't know who did that, but that was of no importance now. She only cared about Cassandra's warm body next to her and her light grip on her hand. With a small smile and tear leaving a wet trail on her cheek, she drifted away to sleep… For the first time in centuries, feeling truly at peace.

* * *

"Eh… Why can't I fall in love like that?" Leone muttered under her breath. First Tatsumi and Akame and then these two. Not to mention the sex addicts getting manhandled by nurses in the back of the tent. Really, one would think she of all people would have no problems finding herself a lover but it seems life isn't really interested in giving her that bit of pleasure. Not that she's really complaining, playing the big sister role is very much a full time job. Just knowing that thanks to her efforts others can be happy like these two centuries long lovers in front of her is enough to satisfy her. At least for now. She slowly rose back up from her sitting spot next at Velvet's side, fixing her cloak and hood on her body before turning around. One of the doctors serving in this makeshift hospital was behind her, looking at the two quietly snuggled together. "What's up doc?"

He slowly turned his gaze away from them, now looking her right in the eyes. "They… Don't have much time left..." He sighed deeply, way too used to this then he would have liked. "A year... maybe two at most… Based on what you've told me, it's honestly a miracle they even made it this far to be treated. Their bodies are slowly falling apart and there's nothing currant medicine can do for them but make sure they don't suffer any more then they already did. I'm sorry."

Leone shook her head. "Don't be. I'm sure that as long as they have each other, they'll be fine. Honestly, I don't think they would hope for any more then that, all things concerned… and who knows, maybe that mystical power of love will decide to act and give them a hand…" She took one more glance at the two and proceeded to turn away, slowly heading towards the exit out of the tent. She had a few more errands to run that night. As soon as she left the tent, she took a glance at the rubble covering the whole street from one end to another. Ruined houses dominated the landscape, and ruined lives lingered in the air. She could feel the resentful gazes directed at her from some of the houses. Not everyone was happy with the revolution, some people were fine with the status quo, and not just nobles. There were many who managed to make a life within the system despite the odds, and when the revolution came to break the foundation that life was built on, they weren't exactly interested in welcoming them with open arms. Many of them even refused to accept any help from the revolutionaries, still living in the ruins of their homes…

She couldn't really do anything about that though. You can't please everyone no mater what you do, and overthrowing the government was bound to earned some opposition, regardless of said government's actions.

Without a word, she moved down the street, slowly heading to a completely different part of the Capital. The ruins slowly started to give way to celebrations that still dominated the streets at night. She would be more then happy to grab some booze from one of the nearby stands and dance the night away, but she only smiled and waved at the few friends she spotted before continuing on. She could do that later. Eventually, she moved far away from the celebrations. The sounds of cheers and singing faded away into silence of the night yet again as she slowly made her way towards the largest building in the slums. One that despite it's size, never seemed out of place even in a poor district like this. It was Imperial Prison. It wasn't really built in the middle of the slums though. The slums are what came to be as a result of the prison. The Empire didn't really bother with helping the few people that were not sentenced to death and got out at some point. After doing their time, people were simply thrown out on the streets and as most had nowhere to go, they stayed, slowly turning the entire area into the poorest part of the capital.

Now that the revolution was won, the whole place came under revolutionaries control and with that came many changes. For once, the prison's garrison was replaced by the numerous rebels who were taken in by the Empire. It was deemed the best solution as they re the only ones who had an idea as to which prisoners could be released and which ones were there for an actual reason. "Leone." One of the guards posted at the entrance waved his hand to her, to which she responded in kind. "Are you here to see the slime ball you brought in?"

"Yeah, figured he started to miss me." The two bumped their fists together. The guard was actually a friend of hers, one of many people she stuck with in her young years. He was one of the rebels released from the prison, ending up inside after a rebel cell in the slums got discovered. "Hope you guys were keeping him company while I was gone. Can't have him thinking we forgot about him." The guard opened the gate and walked alongside her, motioning for some of the people inside to cover his post.

"Don't you worry about that. We made sure to put him in the cell with the friendliest of individuals in the whole facility. 'The Muds' really took a liking to him too." She almost fell over mid step upon hearing this. That news was surprising even to Leone, The Muds were one of the most notorious criminal groups in the whole Capital, known for committing countless brutal rapes across the whole city. What's interesting about them though, is their bizarre code of conduct. Namely, they only rape man. No woman, no children, only adult man. Occasionally animals too but that was a rarity in the sea of rapes they've committed. They've never really went out of their way to kill their victims, though that occasionally happened as well, preferably 'spreading seeds of love' as they liked to put it. Weird thing to claim about their actions as their victims were often traumatized enough to commit suicide. "It might be a bit of a problem to get him out of there, but it's nothing a bit of sleeping drugs can't fix."

"I'll take your word for it..." She sure wasn't envious of the fat shit, but then again, who would be? Especially since this is just a warm-up. The real fun starts once his capture becomes public knowledge. Word is, they plan on nailing him on a cross in the execution site he was so proud of along with some of his closest benefactors. It will truly be a sight to see. Hopefully it happens before she leaves with Tatsumi and Akame. She sure as hell doesn't plan on wasting time considering the situation.

Within a few minutes of making their way across the prison blocks, Leone was finally led into the highest security ward, one meant for the riskiest of prisoners.

People in here were rarely kept alive for long unless for some experiments as was the case with 'The Muds'; they were all extremely dangerous criminals of the highest caliber. This was the sole place in the whole facility what continued to perform it's function even as the corruption sunk its claws into it, never becoming just another place where Honest threw his political rivals or a playground for Imperial Guards playing with the little power they have by throwing innocents behind bars.

Her friend led her down a pair of stairs and through a dark, cold corridor, with the only source of light being the few lamps hanging from the walls. There was one more guard standing outside of a set of iron doors, staring at them as they approached. Leone could already hear the laughter coming from behind that door. "They're fucking disgusting. Less then animals..." The voice coming from behind the full face helmet was clearly female. "I swear, if it was anyone else in there, I'd kill these fuckers where they stood." She lifted the visor, showing her face. Her friend did the same, coming closer to her.

"You want me to find someone to take your spot?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. Don't want to cause more chaos before we get the logistics handled." She took a glance at Leone. "She's the one who got him here?" Leone nodded, smiling proudly. "Well, come on, if you wanna see him you better do it before these fuckers tear him to shreds. And you better stay here. If they see another guy they might get more excited." He nodded as she grabbed her keys and unlocked the door she was guarding, revealing another hallway, this time much shorter, only long enough to place two cells on each side. The sounds she's been hearing up until now got far louder as a very disturbing smell reached her nose. A mix of blood, sweet and semen with a clear hint of shit and piss. Never a good mix. Leone could see the woman leading her visibly gag at the smell, covering her nose. She was quick to cover her face with the visor again, not wanting the prisoners to know her eyes were getting watery. Mere seconds later, Leone was faced with a sight like nothing she expected. Withing a large cell ten man surrounded Honest, each naked with bodies ranging from small and skinny to giant mountains of muscle that would tower even over Bulat.

Two of them were happily shoving themselves into the fat man's asshole while another two took turns with his mouth. Another one of them had his member inserted into Honest's eyehole which by now had more semen then blood oozing from it. Three more were pushing their dicks into his fat body through holes they drilled in it. The remaining two simply waited on the side, jerking off as they waited for their turn...

They didn't even acknowledge the fact that two people just appeared, just kept raping what was likely to be their last victim. Laughter and aroused moans sounded from their mouths as they drooled all over the place. One of the two that waited behind seemed to have run out of patience and decided to join the fun. He was the smallest of the bunch, easily sliding between others surrounding Honest and reaching his hand under the man's fat belly. After a short while, he pulled out his member from under the fat, smiling sickly as he started to push his little finger into the head, pouring blood as he widened the hole enough to insert his own small member into it. The others only laughed harder as Honest tried to break free.

The guard was right. These people didn't even deserve to be called animals, they were too low for that. They sure as hell deserved execution as soon as their turn arrives... However, when Leone took a glance into Honest's remaining eye, filled with fear and terror... she couldn't help but silently cheer them on.

* * *

In a different part of the capital, near the execution ground where celebrations were taking place and people danced watching bodies of the countless executed prisoners burning on a large pile, two man sat silently in a room, surrounded by piles of books and documents. They carefully red through them, taking notes and analyzing each with single-minded dedication. One was facing the biggest challenge in his medical career and the other searched for a way to save his lover. They pushed the noises from the outside aside, focusing completely on the task at hand. Finding a cure for the incurable poison. "Give me doctor Giorno's notes." Tatsumi got up from his chair and immediately passed the right tome to the doctor. As he had no experience in medicine whatsoever, Tatsumi focused on keeping track of the different volumes he brought in from the archive, searching for any connections between them and maintaining order in their notes.

"None of his methods were successful, though he was mostly focusing on pinpointing the inner workings of the curse." He grabbed a few more tomes. "His work was mentioned by few other researchers. Here are their notes." The boy opened each book on the part referring to the subject. Doctor wordlessly started to read through them, writing down everything he deemed important. They've already been going at it for a while already and the lack of sleep was tarting to show on doctor's face, masked by the numerous cups of coffee he drunk.

"I might be onto something." He said after a while, rising from his chair. Tatsumi did the same, now fully focused on the doctor who passed him a piece of paper. "Go to the main medical camp and have the doctor in charge to give you these." Tatsumi took a quick glance at the piece of paper, quickly realizing what he plans to do. "And if possible, bring in some an additional pair of hands or two. I can handle things on my own with Perfector, but it never hurts to have some help." The boy nodded, hiding the note in his coat as he turned around and left the room, pulling a hood over his head. The doctor meanwhile sighed deeply as he approached his closet with medical supplies. Upon opening it, he started to pull things out of it, often having to reach all the way back for the rarely used substances. Having grabbed all he would need, he reached his hand into a pocket of his lab coat. He soon pulled his Teigu out of it, immediately putting the two gloves on his hands.

"Now then..." With a quick move of his hands, he mixed the substances he just gathered into one yellowish cocktail. Skillfully and precisely adding more and more chemicals into his creation he started to mix the liquid with a glass rod. Once that was done, he poured the liquid into a small boiler having ignited an oil candle underneath it. In a matter of minutes it started to boil and the gasses that were released were redirected into another container where they were cooled down and liquidized again. Doctor looked at the new liquid and gathered some into a syringe. He then turned back to his closet, this time taking out a vial with Akame's blood sample. It was almost completely black, unnatural no matter how you look at it. He poured a bit of it on a glass plate and placed it under a microscope.

Looking through the lens, he saw the exact same image he looked at many times already. Akame's own blood cells covered in the marks one would usually see on those struck down by Murasame, only now, thanks to the books brought by Tatsumi he knew the exact way how the curse operated. Normally, it would attack the victim's heart and cause the muscles to tense up, stopping the heart beat and subsequently the blood flow. In this case however, the curse acted differently. It still attacked the heart, but only in order to further spread onto blood cells and through them the whole body. As the blood cells delivered oxygen to various parts of the body they also carried a small dose of poison that temporarily killed and damaged whole sections of the body. It was especially bad for the brain, causing hallucinations and memory loss as a side effect. Over time it would all get worse and worse as more blood cells were getting infected, eventually stopping all body functions permanently.

The two most common, though ultimately fruitless countermeasures against this that were taken into action before are blood transfusion and heart transplant, both of which only managed to slow down the progression of the curse. An actual cure would have to stop the creation of infected blood cells and that's beyond what can be done at this point. Unless of course Tatsumi is right and the Beast he aims to kill carries an antidote. Still, the best he can do now, is to create a countermeasure that will seek out and kill off the infected cells before they do further damage.

With his eye still looking down the microscope, doctor added the liquid he created into the sample and observed the effects... which proved themselves satisfying enough for him to crack a smile. "I'm _definitely_ onto something."

* * *

Tatsumi meanwhile had just made his way into the medical camp, entering inside after the guards at the entrance had a look at the note from the doctor. They even directed him to the man in charge without question. _Guess the doc is known around here..._ It did make sense though. Tatsumi didn't know the man very well, but at the end of the day he was the one who used Perfector now. That was bound to get the attention of others in his profession. "Doctor." Tatsumi called out as he entered a small tent on the edge of the camp. Inside, he saw an elderly man, around his 70s, sitting behind a desk. He appeared to have been resting, though not quite sleeping yet.

"Hm? What is it young man?" He yawned as he started to get up from his chair, taking a cane into his hand.

"I'm sorry to intrude, sir. I was asked to come here with a request for medical supplies." He handed him the note he got. Doctor took it, but before reading it pulled a pair of glasses from his pocket and put them on.

"Ah, I see." He hid the note in his pocket and started to make his way out of the tent. Tatsumi followed him, staying a few steps behind. "So my son is being lazy again and uses me to avoid proper procedures. Typical... Eh, the youth... Always rushing ahead at full speed. It wouldn't hurt to slow down and take a look around every once in a while."

"I get that sir, but the situation doesn't allow for waiting until someone decides to take care of the paperwork." The elderly doctor suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "Sir?" He slowly turned around to face him and slowly lifted his cane above Tatsumi's head. He brought it down, but Tatsumi easily sidestepped, only lifting an eyebrow at the man in confusion. However, just as soon as he was about to ask about the reasons behind the action, he felt something hit the back of his head. "Ack!" He turned around, only now noticing that the cane he avoided has hit an old wooden table. One of the planks the table was made of was damaged, and as it was struck down with the cane became a catapult that sent a pencil that lied on it flying at his head.

"Slow and steady turtle wins the race. The fastest solution isn't always the best." He turned back around and continued to march forward as Tatsumi rubbed his head. "I have no doubt that the situation is dire, but that is also the case for many of those that are being treated here." They headed into the main tent where the wounded were being kept. He used his cane to push the curtains aside as he entered. "Look around. All of these people need help as well. Some more then others. If everyone did what my son does and simply took whatever they need whenever they need it, those that are in need of help the most would likely die before someone got the chance to properly take care of them. And even still, we can't possibly help everyone. Sometimes, letting go of one life can mean saving far more, however cruel it might seem..."

Tatsumi clenched his fist. "Are you saying I should just let her die!? Like hell I'm gonna-!" The man pushed the handle of his cane into his mouth, silencing him.

"Be quiet young man. These people are in pain as it is. Let them sleep and heal in silence." He pulled the cane out of the boy's mouth and washed it clean of drool with a tissue. "I'm not saying you should leave anyone to die. The equipment you're here for is not going to be used for now either way, we won't be performing any heart transplants anytime soon. You would get it whether or not the request would go through our quartermaster or not. All I'm trying to do, is make you realize that ignoring the bigger picture is likely to carry consequences you may not be ready for."

* * *

In the end, it took a few hours to assemble everything from the list. The doctor's father didn't stay to help though, he simply led Tatsumi to the camp's quartermaster and had him search for the equipment and update the necessary logs afterwards. The man himself went back to his tent where he mire then likely took a long nap; Tatsumi didn't check, fearing he'll end up waking him up. By the time he had everything loaded onto a small, hand-pulled cart, the sun was just about to start rising above the horizon. Some of it's rays already shone upon the clouds above and it was only a matter of time before he would be able to bask in their light as well. It even seemed like it was going to be one great sunrise to watch, the sky was almost completely clear, birds flew above the city… _Shame Akame can't watch it with me…_ His face dropped as he continued to march ahead.

"Tatsumi." He heard a voice call to him. He immediately recognized it and stopped in his tracks, turning his head towards the speaker as he waited for them to catch up to him.

"Why are you up so early Boss?" Scratching his head, the boy asked, only earning a confused look from the woman, who also started scratching her head whilst looking at the rising sun questioningly. It wasn't long before he noticed her bloodshot eye with a dark bag under it and the smell of strong coffee in her breath. "Trouble sleeping?"

She now turned her gaze to him, still confused. "What are you talking about? The sun is setting now, isn't it? I just finished a meeting with other revolutionary leaders and was going to sleep..." Noticing Tatsumi's confusion about her statement, she took another, closer look at the sun, only now noticing that it was actually rising as oppose to setting like she believed. "Huh, it's rising now? Were we at it the whole night? Sure didn't feel like it..." After a moment of thought she shrugged and moved closer to Tatsumi. "Either way," She started as they begun to walk. "I finished routing the path with the maps you gave me." She handed him a folded piece of paper. Tatsumi took it and quickly took a look on the contents while Najenda lighted a cigarette. "The red line marks the optimal route with 'x' marks placed where you should get to by the end of each day before going to rest for the night."

"And the black lines?"

"Those are possible shortcuts, but I suggest you take the safer routes if possible. Those places are pretty dangerous, you never know what might happen there. Tricky environment, dangerous animals, hostile locals… Only use those routes if you have no choice, you hear me." He nodded. "Good. Now, as for the passage through the sea, I arranged for a ship to be prepared by the time you get to the nearest port. The crew will be waiting there." 

Tatsumi smiled lightly at her. "Thank you boss. It means a lot to me..."

"As in, _she_ means a lot to you?" A slight blush formed on the boy's cheeks as he looked away, nervously scratching the back of his neck. Najenda chuckled at that. "Be good to that girl, alright? She really needs more love in her life, even if she doesn't believe she deserves it..." Tatsumi's mood was quick to change upon hearing that. He slowly turned to Najenda, staring at her in demand for further explanation. She noticed that and after getting rid of excess ash on her cigarette she exhaled a puff of smoke, she started. "Akame doesn't think very highly about herself. As a human... and as a woman. One of effects her childhood under Empire brought that still holds strong to this day. She was never encouraged to seek love or any kind of partnership, rather discouraged and made to believe her primary purpose as a living being is to kill and fight for a cause. To an extant, she still believes that to be the case… She doesn't exactly think of herself as pretty either."

Tatsumi quickly cut her off. "No way! She's beautiful!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, clenching his fist in determination as a pink blush spread across his cheeks. How could Akame see herself as anything less then that? He sure as hell couldn't think of a time when he thought she was anything less then stunning, especially since he got to briefly take a more detailed look with Spectator before it rejected him. The way she looked without clothes was...

With that thought his blush that started to grow more and more intense as Najenda begun to chuckle.

"Make sure to tell her that. Leone used to try getting her more in tune with her girl side, but I don't think she was satisfied with the results." With one final inhale, Najenda dropped her cigarette on the ground, crushing it under her boot as she passed over it. "Surprisingly many things about her have changed since you came into the picture, you know? She's never showed even a passing interest in anyone as far as I've known her..." She rubbed her chin in thought. "I wonder what she saw in you..." Tatsumi lost himself in though on that as well. What _did_ she see in him? What did he do to earn her affection... The obvious thing his mind immediately ventured towards was his promise to not die and leave her alone, but didn't seem like all there is to it. It's certainly a part of it, but he was sure there was more to it then just that. There certainly was a lot more he liked about her other then how beautiful he thinks she is.

It wasn't long before Najenda reached her destination, a small tavern she rented a room in. She pulled out another cigarette and turned to face Tatsumi as she was lighting it up. "One more thing before I go..." The boy suddenly felt a pressure of a thousand glares as the general placed her hands over his shoulders, staring him right in the eyes. The world started to fade into gray with her puffing out a cloud of smoke right in his face as her eye pierced him right through. A loud swallow sounded through the street, loud enough to turn some eyes. "Tatsumi..." Her metallic hand dug into his shoulder. "I hope you are aware... what will happen if you even _think_ of hurting _my_ girl..."

* * *

Back in his office, the Teigu doctor rested with his face down on his desk. He fell asleep not long after finishing his creation, having achieved the exact results he needed. It was all coming together, his greatest medical achievement yet was just a few steps away... But he needed to be careful. Considering how delicate the situation was, even one wrong move could cost the girl's life. He couldn't let that happen. Not only because he would have an angry, super-powered, mutated teenage assassin to deal with, but mainly because he simply didn't want this girl to fade into darkness like that. There were not many people like him, those who knew of Night Raid's true role in the revolution. And the fate that awaited them.

They would be forgotten. Written off the history books, erased from the records… They would only ever be remembered as a legend of assassins who cut their way through the Capital under cover of night, if at all. Knowing that was… sad. There will never be a word spoken about their achievements, no monument will be risen in memory of their sacrifices, no tear will be shed once they're gone other then their own… If he could at the very least spare one of the last surviving members a painful death, he would do all he possibly could. "Doctor?" He heard the door cracking open. Slowly, he rose his head to see the visitor, rubbing his eyes as he stretched his arms. It was Tatsumi, back with all the tools he would be needing soon. "Did you have enough rest?"

"Two hours of sleep and a big cup of coffee is more then enough for me." He said, putting a water filled kettle on the stove. Tatsumi looked at him questioningly. He didn't want everything to fail because of something as trivial as lack of rest. "Don't worry, I've had a lot of rest while you and Leone were in the archive. And besides, I've done heart transplants in worse conditions even before I was able to use Perfector." As the water heated up, the doctor moved towards his worktable, motioning Tatsumi to follow him. "Do you see this?" He pointed at a yellowish liquid filling a small test-tube. "It's been distilling while I was asleep. With the notes you've found for me I managed to figure out a way to combat the curse, and this is the result of what I was doing while you were away. When this yellow liquid comes in contact with infected parts of body, it will at least temporarily return them to normal functioning and halt any progression of the curse."

Tatsumi sharply turned to him. "Then what are you waiting for, we need to-!" The boy reached his hand out to grab the medicine, but was stopped by the Doctor as he grabbed him by the wrist.

"Not so fast Tatsumi. Injecting it now would do little more then aggravate the disease to spread faster. It's already too deeply bound to her heart to do anything the way she is." He let go of the boy's hand. "That's why I wanted you to bring me this equipment. Before doing anything, I have to get rid of the very core of the infection and make sure it can be stopped from gaining foothold again."

Tatsumi looked back at the equipment he brought and sighed as he slowly turned to face the doctor. "I figured as much when you asked me to bring this stuff. Well, where do you plan to get a spare heart from? Those don't exactly grow on trees."

The doctor only smirked as he fixed his glasses. "Well, you're right about that. They don't grow on trees..." He stepped closer to Tatsumi, pressing a finger against his chest. "But they do grow in here." Again, Tatsumi stared at the man questioningly. Was he asking him to give his life to save Akame? He certainly would if it were to come to this, but preferably he would rather avoiding that outcome. "Tell me, have you noticed that recently you've become… _larger?_ "

"Well, yeah? A bit here and there since I fused with Incursio, but it's not like I suddenly became like Bro was..."

"And do you wish to know why?" The boy rose his eyebrow, asking for further explanation. "When I was doing tests on you and miss Leone I came to a few conclusions that I didn't have a chance to mention to you before... It would seem that you grew a few… Extra parts… third lung, gills hidden under your skin, poison glands, second stomach… and a spare heart.

* * *

A quiet thud sounded in the room as Tatsumi placed a bowl of hot water on the table, right next to Akame's motionless body. The curtains were covering the windows, allowing only an overhead lamp to shed light on the girl's body as Tatsumi started to remove her clothes. In any other situation he'd probably be more… excited about the activity, but right now he had more important things to think about. Like how her veins were showing along her skin, almost forming a black hole where her heart was. He grabbed a clean piece of cloth and dipped it in the water he brought, slowly wiping the sweat from her body as he watched her chest rise and fall. Every now and then her breath would become sharper and her body would lightly shake under his touch.

Once he was done cleaning her before the operation, he felt her hand grab his own. Weakly, her fingers wrapped around his as if begging him to stay near. He did just that, taking her hand into his own and slowly running his fingers along her skin. "Don't worry Akame, everything will be fine… I promise..." His free hand moved to the side of her face as his lips pressed against her forehead. "I love you." She almost seemed to calm down as he gently stroke her face, still holding her hand tightly in his own. He really wished she could she could embrace him as well... He gave her one more kiss on the forehead and straightened himself back up, still not letting go of her hand. The door to the room opened soon later as doctor entered inside, dressed in clean white coat. Protector gloves covered his hands in which he carried a glass bottle of the yellow specific.

"It's time to begin Tatsumi." He swallowed loudly. The idea of having his heart pulled out of his chest was… not necessarily on his list of things he wants to do. Even if he has a spare. Which is not to say he was planning on as much as showing a single sign of hesitation, far from it in fact. He was more then determined to making sure Akame is saved and he was ready for whatever sacrifices he had to make for her. It didn't really mean he has to be enthusiastic about it though.

The boy removed his shirt as he laid himself down on the table, right next to Akame. He had already cleaned himself before coming to do the same for Akame, so without any delay, doctor grabbed his arm and infected a dose of a drug meant to put him under along with a muscle relaxant. To both his and doctor's relief, within a few minutes he was already feeling his consciousness fading away along with any strength leaving his body. They had actually feared his body would prove outright immune to such procedures and this would all end in a live operation. Luckily that was not the case.

His body continued to slowly grow numb, but as time started to stretch for him as it passed by, the only thing that remained perfectly clear for him was the feeling of Akame's hand, tightly gripping his own... _I love you..._ _I really do..._ He thought again, finally fading away into unconsciousness.

The waking up was... instant. From his perspective, he might have never even fallen asleep. The very moment his consciousness disappeared, it started to return, slowly. _Very_ slowly. At first it was just the awareness that he actually... exists? He wasn't quite sure about that until later. One by one he was becoming aware of various parts of his body, his arms, legs, the weird feeling of... emptiness in his chest... and a warm grip on his hand. As that sensation reached him, other senses started to return. At first his mind was so clouded he could barely even tell there was a world outside his body, but soon came in a barrage of information flooding in from every corner of his body.

He became aware of the sounds surrounding him, the dryness in his mouth, coldness of the air around him... And at the end of all that, his eyes started to open. He wasn't sure exactly how much time has passed, but once his sight came back enough for him to make out his surrounding, he could tell it was already night outside. _Akame..._ The girls name and the realization of why he even got into that state came in like a wreaking ball.

Immediately, or at least as fast as his weakened body would allow, he turned his head to the side and he was greeted by a sight that filled the empty place in his chest with nothing more then pure joy and happiness. Akame's eyes were open, just barely but she was most definitely looking at him. His grip on her hand subtly tightened as he tried to push himself to smile... to no avail. She did though. Just a little bit, but it was the happiest smile he ever saw on her face.

* * *

Leone was... not pleased. Sure she was happy both Akame and Tatsumi are awake, at least somewhat, but... well, this was the third time she's seen a scene like that in a span of a few days. And by now it was like a slap in the face combined with a reminder of her own inability to get romantically involved with anyone.

Also she was more then probably a _little_ bit drunk at the moment. That likely made her a bit more irritable.

She groaned, tapping her feet against the floor as she took a swing from a bottle in her hand. It was then that she heard someone enter the room. The doctor... now that she looked at him, she had to admit he was actually quite the eye candy... "What are you doing here? I told you not to bother them." He said, sternly looking down at her. "Get out before I- Are you _drinking_?"

"Uh... yeah. Met some buddies on my way here and kinda lost track of time... hehe..." She could barely stop herself from looking at him with a dreamy look in her eyes. Actually, scratch that. She couldn't be bothered to do that. He was just... so damn pretty... "Hey, you know... I've been... really lonely lately..." She arose from the chair she's been sitting on and turned to face him.

"I don't really care about whether you're feeling lonely or not. Would you be so kind as to leave so I can... Why are you looking at me like that?" She shot him a smirk before dashing right at him, disappearing from view for just a second only to hug him from behind. "W-What the- What are you doing!? Unhand me at once!" He tried to wrestle away form her grip, but it soon became clear it is a fruitless effort on his part.

"Your big sis is _soooo_ lonely..." She licked his ear before whispering into it. "Would you take care of her~"

"I said, let me go you sexually frustrated alcoholic! Also, I'm older then you!"

In an instant, he was thrown across the building. He landed on his sofa and just as he was getting his composure back, Leone jumped on top of him having already tossed away the cloak she wore to cover her naked body. "Should I play the little sister then?" With one skillful move, she removed his shirt, revealing the skinny chest beneath. She started to rub herself against him, looking straight into his terrified eyes as she licked cold sweat off his skin. "Do you like it, _onii-chan_?"

* * *

 **Song of the day: Skillet - Awake and Alive**


	14. Boy and Girl

"Alright, now breath in... and out." Akame did as she was instructed. The cold metal surface of a stethoscope tingled the skin on her back as the doctor listened to her heartbeat. At her side sat Tatsumi, holding his hand over hers. She... appreciated that gesture. Probably more then he was aware of. It's been three days since she woke up, hardly enough for her to fully deal with what she felt before that. The pain was... too much. She was trained to endure torture, to shrug off mortal wounds and fight on no matter what but... it was too much. It was simply too much. Nothing could have possibly prepare her for what the curse did to her. The cold, the terror, the pain... It was as if all of the low points of her life, all of the suffering she went through were brought back to her tenfold each second.

Before she knew it, all she really wanted was for it to end, not matter by what means. Well... all means but one. She didn't want to die.

This isn't to say she never thought about it, but whenever the thought even crossed her mind, she could feel Tatsumi's hand on hers, like she does now. She could hear his voice calling for her to not give up, to believe in him... saying that he loves her. The last ones she now considered nothing more then her own delusions brought forth by the pain, but at the time these three words were what kept her holding onto hope; 'I love you'. Every time she heard those words, she thought back to the moment right before this started. The kiss she forced onto him, the illusion of love she submerged herself into… It's what kept her going through all this… Without him being there for her, she would end up being the one to not keep their promise.

She really wanted to take hold of his hand as he held hers, showing it with a light blush on her face, but she didn't. It was not her place to do so. It was not her right… And she already took more then she should have when she kissed him. Tatsumi seemed to have felt what she was thinking about though and before she knew it, he entangled his fingers with hers, tightly clinging to her hand. The blush that adored her face increased tenfold as she slightly tilted her head towards him. _W-Why is he…_ Before she got to finish her thought, it was completely silenced by the boy's gentle smile. He was looking right into her eyes, almost as if trying to hypnotize her… and if that's what he was going for, he succeeded. The fusion with Incursio might have changed nearly every part of his body, but… He was still undoubtedly the very same Tatsumi she fell in love with. The very same boy who stood in front of her, a tool crafted solely to deal pain and death, and said he will not die. That he will live and survive with her no matter what…

For a long while she couldn't tear her eyes away from him, not even realizing how much she wished to lean in and kiss him again… until she felt her shirt thrown on her face. "Could you two kindly refrain from flirting while I'm listening to my patient's heartbeat? Makes my job difficult." Tatsumi immedtately joined her in blushing in embarrassment as she herself tore her eyes from his and turned away. Their hands were still intertwined though. "Guess it doesn't really matter though. This is the fastest post-transplant recovery I've seen in my career. Discounting Tatsumi naturally." The doctor sat down on a chair he brought from his office as Akame put the shirt back on, stopping for a moment as her hand touched a small device stabbed into her chest.

"Your new heart has completely adopted into your body with no problems. Incredible really. The tissue from Tatsumi's body was able to fully integrate itself with yours in the matter of few days, with no reaction from your immune system whatsoever. It's almost like that heart was meant for you… Sounds romantic, doesn't it?" He nudged the boy with his elbow, earning a nervous chuckle from him. "Regardless, I thought you'd have to be carried during the journey, but it looks like I'll only keep you restrained to a wheelchair for two more days. Not even going to bother keeping you here all the time, just make sure to come here every 12 hours to get an injection." He pointed a finger at the device in her chest. It was connected directly into the heart Tatsumi gave her specifically to inject the medicine the doctor created to counter the curse.

"So in short… you can leave now if you want. Just don't strain yourselves too much. I'll see you tomorrow morning" He was just about to get up and leave through the door, however… just as he reached his hand for the door, Leone burst through them with a loud 'hello there'. The doctor's reaction was… quick. He grew pale as he jumped away from the woman, holding his hands out in front of him in defensive manner. "D-Don't touch me you-" Leone passed by him without a word, simply throwing him a grin as her tail rubbed against his groin. He all but run out of the room after that.

"Leone..." Akame smiled at the woman. She tried to get up but her body, weakened by the curse and her time on the operating table, gave up under her. Tatsumi was quick to lend her a shoulder before she hit the ground, smiling at her slightly as he led her to Leone. The two gently embraced for a long while, with Akame resting her head on the older woman's chest. "I'm glad you came..." She felt her furry hand brushing through her hair for a moment right before she was sat down on the wheelchair Tatsumi brought over.

"Glad to see you doing fine too. Last I saw you you were still almost like a vegetable..." Only Tatsumi was able to stay with Akame at all times since the operation concluded. He was technically recovering too, even if his actual capabilities remained entirely unaffected. Both Leone and Najenda had much to do in their own right. Najenda in particular had a lot to sort out along with the rest of the revolution leaders and was unable to come see the recovering girl yet. Creating a functioning government while at the same time waging a war on the remainer of the Empire was definitely a tough task to undertake, especially since they want to do things the right way. Leone on the other hand was only able to visit once since Akame woke up, but at the time the girl was still unable to move or even speak up. She was tasked with seeking out the numerous nobles that still hid all over the Capital in hope of making a getaway once things calm down, as well as taking down the small pockets of Imperial army that still tried to fight however they could.

Leone ruffled her hair, smiling wildly. "Missed your big sis, didn't ya?" They both chuckled with Tatsumi smiling on the sidelines. "How are you feeling? Anything hurts?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Nothing bad happened since I woke up and..." She placed a hand against her chest, smiling lightly as she glanced over to Tatsumi. "I've actually been feeling great..." The blush didn't escape Leone's attention.

She smiled. "Yeah… 'bout that..." She pulled two objects from underneath her cloak and passed them over to Akame. One was a small, white box and the other… a wig. A set of long, white hair, made very professionally, from actual human hair if her senses didn't deceive her. If she wasn't holding it in her hand but looking at it on someone's head, she wouldn't be able to tell it actually was a wig in the first place. "I've heard from the doc that he's not going to be holding you on a leash for much longer, so I thought I'll organize a little something for you guys." She said, wrapping her arm around Tatsumi and Akame, bringing the boy lower.

"And by something, you mean?" He tried to free himself from the catwoman's grip, only for her to remove herself from between him and Akame. She pushed their heads together, forcefully pressing their cheeks against each other. Cheeks that were instantly painted red.

"You guys are going on a date!"

* * *

 _A date..._ Akame felt her body growing more and more stiff each time she thought about it. Not for just a single reason. For once, this was the first time she showed her face in public since she left the Empire. Almost five years… She may be wearing a wig to hide her hair and a pair of blue eye contacts that were in the white box Leone gave her, but that just meant any random person won't recognize her as the assassin who terrorized the streets for years on end. She still felt like a fish out of water; utterly out of her element. Before, she had a top of 10 people around her at any time and it was not unheard of for her to spend most of the day completely in solitude. Now she was surrounded by dozens of people from each side. People she didn't know that she couldn't just flip a switch on and treat it all like part of the job as she would before the revolution. These were not servants of the Empire. Those were not corrupt guards protecting their equally corrupt employers. Those were just normal people. People she fought for…

The amount of looks she was getting was astounding too. Her sharp ears were able to clearly make out numerous comments made about her too. 'What a cutee', 'never seen her around here before', 'who is she' and such. She couldn't tell she really cared about _what_ they were saying about her, even if she herself didn't agree, but just the fact that she was in any way an object of interest was enough to make her nervous. Tatsumi too didn't seem to appreciate either the amount nor the subject of the comments. She noticed him shooting angry glares at people more then once, mostly those being more vulgar.

Her being pushed on a wheelchair was a strong contributor to her anxiety as well. Not only did it serve to bring even more attention to her, it made her feel… weak. She never deliberately thought of herself as strong as to not fall a victim to pride and overconfidence like Esdeath ultimately did, but she also never considered herself a weak person. Not physically at least. Now though, she was barely able to stand straight, let alone hold a blade. She was vulnerable, more so then she ever was. The wheelchair was like an insult on top of an injury. She couldn't even make it move herself, someone else had to push it for her. The fact that the 'someone' pushing it at the moment was a person she loved did provide some comfort in that regard, but still…

And on the subject of that 'someone'…

 _A date..._ A blush painted her face a cute shade of red. She was on a date. The first date of her life. With Tatsumi… _A date…_ She never even thought about going on one, let alone bothered to actually doing it. There wasn't even a faintest clue in her mind as to what she's suppose to be doing. _A date…_ She knew _what_ a date is technically suppose to be, that much was not hard to figure out, but that just left a question of why was Tatsumi even okay with going on one with her… _A date…_ This wasn't her place to be in. It shouldn't be her to accept that privilege. She wasn't the one he loved… At most, she was just a replacement.

"Are you alright?" His voice suddenly snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned her face back to look at him, meeting his eyes for just a second before shying away.

"I-I'm fine, it's just that... I'm not used to it..." She tightly grabbed the edges of the wheelchair's armrests. A drop of cold sweat run down her back. The heart in her chest pounded widely as her anxiety continued to slowly rise, by now already past the point when she would be able to get it under control on her own. Luckily, Tatsumi was there for her. He stopped the wheelchair in place and before she got a chance to question him about that, she felt his hand resting atop hers. Her grip on the wheelchair almost instantly loosened as his warmth hit her. The claws and armor that covered his body before were gone, along with virtually any sign of his fusion with Incursio save for his eyes, were gone. They disappeared off his body in a puff of smoke, just like Incursio itself used to just before they headed out onto the streets.

His hand was warm... reassuringly soft to touch, yet with undeniable strength coursing right beneath the surface. "It's alright..." He quietly whispered into her ear as his other hand gently laid on her shoulder. "I'm here with you, so stay calm, okay? If you don't want to do this we can just go back. Or maybe just go somewhere else." She wasn't quite sure if the hint of disappointment she felt in his voice was directed at her or the situation as a whole, but one thing was certain for her. She didn't want to stop this. And not just for him. Whether she thought she deserved it or not, she really did want this date to continue. It's just that... she didn't really know how to communicate it to him. For a long while she just sat there in silence with Tatsumi's hands lightly massaging both her hand and shoulder. It was only when she felt those hands slowly moving away that she decided to act.

She grabbed his hand just as it was moving away from hers, gripping it tightly. "I..." She swallowed deeply, feeling her cheeks heating up again. "I don't want to stop... You shouldn't stop yourself from having fun just because of me..."

He smiled a bit. "It doesn't mean we have to go where Leone set us up though. There are many places around the Capital with far fewer people."

"It... Would be pretty rude to just ignore her efforts though... I can handle it, really..." Without her noticing, her hand started to tighten around his. "Just... please, stay with me..." Before she had a chance to beat herself over letting these words slipping out of her mouth, she felt him suddenly planting a kiss on her cheek, just slightly touching the corner of her lip. For a long second her body froze in place, utterly paralyzed by the simple gesture of affection. Just as she realized they are moving again her hand reached for the spot he just kissed. It was just a bit wet and warm to touch, though that one might be because of her own blush. Her finger brushed along the place where their lips just barely brushed, for a good while wandering what would have happened if her head was turned just a little bit further to the side...

Soon enough she found her nervousness and anxiety melting away, leaving a mere shadow behind them as their time together became filled with light conversations and joyful moments while they made their way across the Capital. They moved from place to place on the route Leone left them with, visiting everything from a restaurant to a bar, from a zoo to old relic, from museum to marketplace...

Through all this, their hands remained wrapped together at nearly all times... and in her mind, she could only ask herself 'why?'

* * *

"We can't waste any more time!" A man shouted as his hand smashed against the table. "It's just a matter of time before people run out of patience and start demanding real changes from us, and so far we have yet to establish an official government! Attacking the Capital now was a mistake, we lost nearly half of our forces because we failed to account for that giant Teigu! How did we not know about this Najenda!? You're in charge of gathering intel!"

She clicked her tongue. _This again._ "The thing was never mentioned in any materials we managed to uncover. I doubt anyone besides Honest and the Emperor actually knew about it." She reached her hand towards her pack of cigarettes, only to find it empty. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she crushed the box in her hand and threw it aside. "And we've been over the timing of the attack already, this was the best opportunity we were going to get!"

"Maybe so, but where did it leave us? We have a huge territory to maintain with not enough people to cover all our flanks, the Empire still has legions outside of the Capital and in neighboring countries and it's only a matter of time before the word reaches them and they attempt to counterattack, and to top it all off, we had no time to prepare for actually setting up the government! People are growing impatient and executing these fat bureaucrats isn't going to keep them distracted for long! This revolution was from the beginning meant to serve the people and no one else, and we're failing at giving them the one thing they want – stability."

"Please, stay calm down both of you." Another man spoke up before Najenda could retort. "Spending another meeting on barking at each other like dogs will achieve nothing. I get it, we are all frustrated here on this council... there were far more of us when this all started... twice as many in fact. The loss of our friends and comrades has left us weakened and without a clear direction to head towards in many places, but cannot lat this divide us! Through all of this, our goals never changed and would rather die then let our dream fade away when we are so close already."

"Well said..." An elderly woman standing next to Najenda spoke up. "The remnants of the Empire will not hear of our success for some time, longer if we are careful with the spread of the information outside of the Capital. Many may also abandon the Empire and switch to our side when the news do eventually reach them."

"Perhaps, but that's only one of our problems..."

"And we will address them all in due time. But I believe we all should rest for now. The upcoming execution of Honest will give us enough time to clear our minds and rest from all of this. I'm addressing this specifically to you Najenda. Out of all of us, the war has cost you the most, and you still take on more responsibilities then any of us."

"If you're talking about Night Raid, don't worry about me. All of us knew what we were signing up for and what we were putting on the line..." She thought she hid it well, but the woman beside her still noticed the twitching of her arm.

Soon enough, the meeting was wrapped up, with all of the Rebel Council members going their separate ways. All but Najenda and her elderly friend. The woman placed her hand on General's back, lightly patting it. "Here." She handed her a new pack of cigarettes. Najenda thanked for the gift and immediately took one out and lit it up. "You really do need to rest dear. You'll work yourself to death like that.

"It's not like I have much time anyways. Might as well make it count." She puffed out a small cloud of smoke as her eyes fell over a map of the Empire. All of the known Imperial Legions were marked on it, with all the intel they have on each gathered into files that lied next to the map. The foreign legions they could more or less ignore for now, especially ones oversees. With how far away they were, it would be months before they as much as hear a rumor about the fall of the Capital and if by then the Revolution fails to make substantial progress towards its goals than a potential attack from them will be the least of their problems.

The closest pocket of Imperial forces was the 40th national legion, posted two weeks away from the Capital, but they were most likely called back as soon as the Empire realized that the Revolution Army is on the move. They likely are already on the way and will need to be intercepted before they get here. Luckily the commander of the legion is not exactly known for being an inspiring presence for his troops, so if she plays this right, the problem may pretty much solve itself...

* * *

As time went on for Akame and Tatsumi, a critical flaw of Leone's date plan became apparent to both of them. It was too short. There were only so many favors she could call upon after all. They've spent hours exploring the city, or at least the small fraction of it they would feasibly be able to cover by foot and with one of them bound to a wheelchair. It was not enough though. As they were approaching the end of the plan, they simply found themselves getting... _liberal_ with the time. They would purposefully drag themselves through the streets at a snail's pace, take longer routes, stop to rest even if they didn't need to... And by the time it was suppose to be over, they simply... kept going.

It wasn't exactly hard to find things to do, the whole Capital was filled to the brim with places to visit and food to eat, it's just that most were hard to access with the Empire's iron grip over the economy. With the roots of corruption pulled out, businesses that were closed or wrecked by the city guard were reopening again, hoping this time will be different. It was late evening when they were suppose to be wrapping things up, but with the abundance of things to keep them busy they continued on well into the night, joining the small celebrations they stumbled into.

Akame found herself quickly adapting to the new situation and the attention she was getting. This was what she wanted after all. What she fought for as long as she could remember. Even back when she was serving the Empire the main reason why she would fight, was making the people happy... To see that dream finally fulfilled was almost like a dream in and of itself. She slowly started becoming more and more active part of the celebrations they were joining. Talking with people, laughing with them... It was all still so foreign go her, but she couldn't deny how _right_ it felt.

The celebrations were not where they decided to put a stop to their date though. As the moon rose over the Capital, they both climbed the city's outer walls and sat down on their very edge. She got off the wheelchair and rested right next to Tatsumi, who immediately pressed their sides together, taking her hand in his again. For a long time they sat there, listening to the ambient of the night and admiring the beauty of the moon hanging over them in it's full glory. The excitement of their day together slowly cooled off, replaced by the reassuring warmth brought by their closeness... And soon enough, Akame drifted away into thought.

This was great.

The date, the conversations, the closeness... She didn't even realize when she completely forgot about everything else and simply allowed herself to become submerged in the experience. It made her feel happy, fulfilled and... loved...

"Why?" At first she didn't realize she had actually said that and merely continued to ponder over the question. It was... wrong of her. She shouldn't be feeling that... not _her_... What she felt wasn't returned. He loved someone else... Someone who's already gone...

"I could ask you the same thing." He spoke up, finally making her realize what she allowed to slip. "Back when we first started to actually get to know each other we weren't exactly getting along all that well. You always seemed so cold and distant... A far cry from how we are now, but even I could feel that you are always keeping me and pretty much anyone else at a distance. You've never shown that you want to change that, or that you feel differently about anyone... So, _you_ tell me why. Why do you love me?" He turned his head towards her, smiling lightly as his hand tightened around hers.

She could almost feel as if her tongue tied itself into a knot when she wasn't paying attention. Not a word managed to leave her mouth as panic set in and the heart in her chest almost burst out of it. "Because I honestly struggle to understand it. You are the most beautiful girl I've ever known. You're caring, strong and smart. You've saved my life more then once and helped me become stronger myself. You took care of all of us and asked for nothing in return. You went through hell and back for countless people you never knew... And you chose to fall in love with some dumb, naive, careless, dense, bland looking village kid who came to a big city and bit more then he could chew... Why?"

Her hand squeezed his hard in a single second as she snapped her head towards him, staring right into his eyes. "Y-You're not like that!" She yelled. "You may have been at first but you've grown so much since then! Each day since you came to Night Raid you've been growing stronger. Faster then any of us could have expected! You matured in front of us all and became who you are now and... and I've been watching... Ever since you're first mission I couldn't turn my eyes away. You've brought so much life into Night Raid... into _my life_ when you arrived, so much joy and happiness... I was afraid that if you were gone then... All of that would be gone too. Every time you were not in my sight I was so afraid... And then you made that promise... It was so stupid, so irresponsible... To make a promise like that... To someone like me... But... I was never so happy in my life! You gave me hope for something more! Something beyond the never ending death and loss!" She felt a tear rolling out of her eye. First of many that followed. "How could I not love you!? You gave me more then I ever wanted, more then I ever deserved! You made me feel like I am more then a killer!

Tatsumi reached his free hand out to wipe some of them, but that gesture only made things worse. He kept his hand the re though, gently pressed against her cheek. "But I never said anything... Because... I knew you would never feel like that about me. Not when there is so much blood on my hands. Not when everyone I ever held close to me died. Not when you deserve so much better then me..." Her eyes closed as tears continued to pour down. She started to unconsciously press herself against Tatsumi's hand, seeking comfort in his touch. He was more then happy to provide, though he had no desire to leave her in that state for any longer.

"I don't know what I deserve or not..." He let go of her hand, instead placing it against the other side of her face. Having both hands holding her tear covered face between them, he wiped the tears with his thumbs, prompting her to open her eyes again. "But I do know what I want..." His gentle smile grew a bit wider as he stared into her deep, crimson eyes. She could see it again. The love that was in his eyes back when she kissed him... only this time she could no longer tell herself it wasn't really there. "And what I want... is you, Akame. I love you." Just as the full weight of these words was starting to dawn on her... he kissed her.

It was just for a short moment, but it was enough. She couldn't deny it any more. She didn't _want_ to deny it any more. What she saw before was truth. Not her delusions. Not a lie. Just a simple, honest truth. He loved her. She couldn't comprehend why, but he did.

His smile only continued to grow sweeter the more that realization started to show on her face and soon, he slowly leaned in to kiss her again. She met him half way through, still slightly hesitant to make a move. That much has changed as soon as the contact was made though. Upon their lips making contact again, her eyes closed and she fully leaned in against him. Her arms shyly reached around his chest, pulling her a bit closer to him. Tatsumi meanwhile, moved his hands away from the sides of her face, sliding one down to her waist while the other rested on the back of her head, sinking into her black hair.

For a short moment they separated, though they still kept their lips close. They stared into each other's eyes, smiling slightly before joining their lips again. This time, Akame was the one to make the first move, slightly parting her lips to deepen the kiss as Tatsumi started to tun his hand through her hair and massaged her neck. She moaned lightly, soon prompting to deepen the kiss further with her tongue pressing against his lips.

Tatsumi gladly accepted the offer, not expecting what fallowed. As soon as Akame gained access to his mouth, she immediately pushed her tongue inside as deep as she could possibly reach, pressing herself hard against the boy and pushing him down towards the ground. She didn't exactly have strength to push him over on her own, but Tatsumi decided to simply lie down on his own and allow her to do as she pleased. And she did just that, almost as if someone flipped a switch in her head.

She was pressing down against him, exploring every inch of his mouth, biting on his lips, roughly running her hands through his hair... And he did his best to return the favor, returning every bit of passion she sent his way and then some. His draconic features started to appear on his body again. His sharp teeth would start to bite on her lips and tongue as the claws on his fingers brushed against her soft skin. She could feel his tail rubbing against her legs, occasionally wrapping around them while his tongue did the same, slowly extending in length far beyond what what should be a limit for a human.

It wasn't long before he flipped her over on her back earning a long, heated moan from her. She continued to push back as much as she could, but Tatsumi easily took over the dominating position in the exchange, leaving no space for her to argue. Not that she would even if she could.

Before long her legs wrapped themselves around him and pulled as close to her as possible, pressing his crotch against hers. They both gasped in surprise, both quite clearly feeling something they weren't expecting. It took them only a short moment to realize what it is they really want right now. They smiled before returning to the kiss, excited for whatever the night would bring them...

* * *

 **Well, that took a while... _again_...**

 **Sorry if the rare updates annoy you, but unfortunately I don't plan on doing much about it.**

 **I only write when I actually feel like it so often I can take a long time before updating while on other times, if the right mood strikes me I can end up pumping these out weekly. I don't like the idea of forcing myself to sit down and write when I don't actually want to since... you know. I hope to make this as good as I can.**

 **Recently I've been feeling like writing a lot more then usually, so I might end up updating somewhere in the near future, but I'm not making any promises. So again, sorry if you hope for more frequent updates.**

 **Oh, and yes. the next chapter's gonna be dedicated to a lemon. Skip it if you don't like those. The chapter after that is gonna pick up directly after it.**

* * *

 **Song of the day: Manowar – Die For Metal**


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